MEMORIAL 


I • \ 

(The  (!hto|icau  & a»l  o vth- 2V  m evi  ra  n 


RAILWAY  COMPANY, 


OF  MAINE, 


Co  % legislature  of  Iflassarjiiisctts, 


STATE  AID, 


JANUARY  15,  I860, 


WITH  ACCOMPANYING  DOCUMENTS. 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT  & POTTER,  STATE  PRINTERS, 
No.  4 Spring  Lane. 

1866. 


3 S .V 

V ^ *'T-\ 


SENATE ....  No.  9. 


(Hommomucaltl)  of  Jltassadjusetts. 


To  the  Honorable  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts , in  General  Court 
assembled. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  of 
Maine,  respectfully  asks  such  other  and  further  aid,  assistance 
and  enctfu  rage  men  t to  said  undertaking,  as  the  political  and 
commercial  importance  of  the  enterprise,  and  a proper  regard 
to  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
may  seem  justly  to  demand. 

The  presentation  of  the  claims  of  the  State  of  Maine  on  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  by  Resolutions  of  that  State, 
of  March  25th,  1864,  with  the  accompanying  message  of  its 
governor,  hereto  annexed,  marked  (A,)  followed  by  the  labors 
of  three  distinguished  commissioners  who  presented  the  same 
to  a joint  select  committee  of  the  general  court  of  that  year ; 
and  by  the  memorial  of  the  railway  company,  to  the  general 
court  of  Massachusetts  in  1865,  met  an  intelligent  response 
from  the  very  able  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  Railways  and 
Canals,  whose  unanimous  report  of  May  4th,  1865,  with  the 
memorial  of  the  company,  are  appended  hereto,  as  a part  of  the 
present  application,  marked  (B.) 

Their  recommendation  of  the  grant  to  the  said  company  of 
the  claims  held,  jointly  with  Maine  against  the  United  States, 


2 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


received  the  approval  of  the  legislature,  and  it  became  a law, 
by  the  Act  of  May  16th,  1865,  entitled,  u An  Act  to  aid  the 
construction  of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway.” 

The  legislature  withheld  the  loan  of  the  State  credit  proposed 
by  said  committee  to  the  amount  of  $700,000,  and  the  release 
of  the  debt  of  Maine  as  asked  by  the  railway  company,  until 
the  necessary  plans  of  the  company  should  be  more  fully  worked 
out  and  perfected.  All  the  measures  called  for  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  loan  of  the  State  credit  in  1865,  have  since  been 
consummated. 

Since  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  May  16th,  1865,  there  has 
been  no  opportunity  to  test  the  feeling  of  Congress  on  the 
question  of  aiding  the  extension  of  this  international  line  of 
railway,  admitted,  on  all  hands,  to  be  a work  of  national  and 
international  importance  second  to  no  other  public  enterprise 
of  the  country. 

The  government  of  Maine  having  appropriated  its  public 
lands  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  European  and  North 
American  Railway,  the  company,  on  the  18th  day  of  July,  A. 
D.  1865,  voted  to  place  all  the  timber  and  lands  granted  by 
the  State  of  Maine,  in  the  hands  of  Franklin  Haven,  Hannibal 
Hamlin  and  Henry  V.  Poor,  trustees,  and  to  issue  construc- 
tion mortgage  land  bonds,  to  the  amount  of  one  million  of 
dollars ; said  bonds  being  secured,  by  a first  mortgage  on  the 
line  of  its  railway  from  Bangor  to  New  Brunswick,  subject  only 
to  a prior  lien  of  the  city  of  Bangor  on  that  section  of  the  road 
that  extends  from  Bangor  to  Lincoln  and  Winn,  a distance  of 
less  than  sixty  miles ; and  a first  and  only  lien  on  the  public 
lands  granted  by  Maine  to  said  company. 

On  the  29th  day  of  July,  1865,  the  company  made  applica- 
tion to  the  governor  and  council  of  Massachusetts,  to  invest  in 
their  construction  land  bonds  aforesaid,  the  moneys  to  be  paid 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  discharge  of  the 
debt  of  Maine,  a copy  of  which  application  and  of  the  doings 
of  the  governor  and  council  thereon  are  appended  hereto,  as 
part  of  this  Memorial,  marked  (C.) 

In  again  appealing  to  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts  for 
aid  to  this  enterprise,  so  important  to  the  social,  political  and 
commercial  interests  of  the  United  States  and  the  maritime 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9.  . 


8 


Provinces  of  British  North  America,  some  facts  and  suggestions 
as  to  the  influence  and  value  of  this  international  railway,  may 
not  be  out  of  place  in  this  connection. 

As  the  leading  State  of  New  England  in  commerce,  wealth 
and  population,  Massachusetts  must  be  forward  in  all  efforts  at 
developing  the  region  of  the  continent  over  which  she  assumes 
to  exercise  metropolitan  sway,  or  she  will  be  stripped  of  com- 
mercial influence  and  power,  by  the  inevitable  laws  of  self- 
interest  and  self-defence. 

The  peninsular  region,  of  Ulrich  Massachusetts  is  a part, 
lying  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  east  of  Lake  Champlain 
and  the  Hudson,  has  from  the  first  discovery  of  the  continent 
by  the  European  races,  been  the  theatre  of  the  principal  events 
in  the  early  history  of  the  new  world.  To-day  it  occupies  a 
conspicuous  position  in  the  commercial  and  political  movements 
of  both  continents. 

The  contests  of  race,  religion  and  nationality,  that  for  centu- 
ries engaged  the  people  of  France  and  England,  were  transferred 
to  this  portion  of  the  new  world,  and  were  here  revived  and 
renewed,  with  all  the  fierceness  which  an  enlargement  of  their 
object  heightened  and  increased ; and  the  world  looks  with 
wonder  and  admiration  on  the  magnificent  triumphs  of  England 
over  France  in  the  conquest  of  the  continent  of  North  America 
over  superior  resources.  The  people  of  other  lands  rejoice  at 
the  rise  of  an  empire  in  the  new  world,  that  must  in  time,  by 
force  of  inevitable  necessity,  overshadow  the  nationalities  of 
the  old. 

The  names  of  New  France  and  New  England,  affixed  to 
this  region  by  their  respective  claimants,  when  placed  in  con- 
trast, revive  the  recollections  of  a century  and  a half  of  strug- 
gle, for  everything  that  was  dear  to  humanity,  and  with  a 
feeling  of  subdued  exultation  we  now  point  to  that  small 
section  that  still  retains  the  name  of  New  England,  as  a type 
of  national  character,  while  the  proud  name  of  New  France  is 
lost  forever  from  the  record  of  existing  things, — lives  only  in 
the  obscure  annals  of  the  past,  or  as  revived  and  reproduced  in 
the  pages  of  romance  and  poetry. 

The  idea  that  first  strikes  the  mind  in  studying  the  mathe- 
matical and  physical  geography  of  this  eastern  projection  of  the 


4 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


continent  included  in  the  Acadian  Peninsula  is,  that  this 
whole  region  ought  to  be  under  one  government,  or  at  any  rate, 
subject  to  one  commercial  law.  This  was  the  feeling,  if  not  the 
belief,  of  the  early  French  and  English  colonists,  and  while 
struggling  to  hold  it,  as  against  each  other,  for  their  own  people, 
they  sought  as  early  as  1650,  to  establish  friendly  relations,  and 
permit  free  trade  with  each  other.  Divided  between  the  two 
great  nations  of  Europe,  in  hostility  for  150  years  after  its  first 
settlement,  the  territory  of  the  Acadian  Peninsula  grew  into 
different  and  separate  communities,  which  have  since  assumed 
the  forms  of  States  and  Provinces,  under  ten  distinct  govern- 
ments. These  facts  are  best  shown  in  the  following  table : — 


Square  Miles. 

Population 
in  1860. 

Maine, 

New  Hampshire, 

Vermont,  ...... 

Massachusetts, 

Rhode  Island, 

Connecticut, 

31,766 

9,280 

10,212 

7,800 

1,306 

4,750 

628,276 

326,072 

315,116 

1,231,065 

174,621 

460,151 

New  England  proper,  .... 

Part  of  New  York, 

65,114 

3,596 

3,135,301 

357,882 

Total  in  United  States, 

68,710 

3,493,183 

Nova  Scotia,  (including  Cape  Breton), 

New  Brunswick,  ..... 

Prince  Edward’s  Island,  .... 
Part  of  Canada,  (31  counties), 

• 

18,746 

27,704 

2,134 

32,782 

In  1861. 

330,699 

252,047 

80,648 

478,666 

Total  in  Provinces,  .... 

• 

81,366 

1,142,060 

Grand  Total,  .... 

• 

150,076 

4,635,257 

The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  with  only  about  Ctu) 
one-twentieth  of  its  territory,  has  over  one-fourth  of  the  popula- 
tion of  this  great  section  of  the  continent.  This  superiority  in 
point  of  numbers  is  mainly  due  to  the  accidents  of  history, 
rather  than  to  any  superiority  in  the  natural  resources  of  the* 
State  of  Massachusetts.  A knowledge  of  the  political  history 
of  each  State  and  Province  that  fills  up  this  territory  is  needed, 
to  a proper  understanding  of  their  present  relative  development, 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


5 


their  commercial  importance,  and  the  necessary  measures 
required  for  their  material  advancement  in  the  future. 

The  New  England  Company  who  claimed  this  entire  region 
as  far  north  as  the  48th  parallel  of  latitude,  whose  charter  of 
Nov.  3d,  1620,  gave  them  the  continent  from  the  40th  to  the 
48th  'degree  of  latitude,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean,  selected  in 
1622,  a site  on  the  Sagadahoc,  as  the  seat  of  their  metropolitan 
city,  nearly  in  the  geographical  centre  of  this  peninsular  region 
on  its  ocean  front ; and,  but  for  the  accidents  of  history  the 
wisdom  of  their  choice  would  have  been  confirmed  and  realized. 
The  French,  more  far-seeing,  and  generally  more  prompt  in  * 
execution,  held  possession  of  the  country  claiming  title  from 
the  40th  to  the  46th  parallel,  under  the  charter  of  Henry  IV.,  of 
France,  of  Nov.  8,  1603.  Defeated  in  1607,  in  their  attempt  to 
hold  the  Atlantic  front,  and  the  country  as  far  south  as  the  40th 
degree  of  latitude,  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  charter  of  Du  Monts 
of  Nov.  8,  1603,  and  the  occupation  of  the  country,  under  the 
charter  of  April  10th,  1606,  by  the  English  under  Popham  in 
1607,  the  French  held  on  to  the  country  east  of  the  Sagadahoc, 
in  spite  of  the  English  possession  of  1607-8,  and  swept  a line  of 
possessions  from  1608  to  1620,  round  into  Lake  Champlain, 
while  the  Dutch  pushed  up  the  Hudson,  northward,  till  their 
possessions  met  those  of  France,  confining  New  England,  on 
the  west,  to  its  present  limits. 

The  English  held  New  England  west  of  the  Sagadahoc  at  the 
north,  as  far  west  as  the  Green  Mountain  ridge,  and  to  the  45th 
parallel  of  latitude  ; and  Virginia  at  the  south,  with  New 
Netherlands  between  them,  till  the  conquest  of  the  latter  by 
England,  in  1664.  The  English  possessions  were  confined  to  a 
narrow  strip  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  while  France,  holding  the 
mouths  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  claimed  the  vast 
basins  of  these  rivers,  embracing  nineteen-twentieths  of  what  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  English-speaking  people  of  the  conti- 
nent, till  dispossessed  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Canada,  in 
1759. 

The  relinquishment  of  New  France,  by  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
1763,  according  to  the  opinions  of  the  leading  statesmen  of 
France  of  that  day,  laid  the  foundation  of  an  empire  and  a 
power  in  America,  that  should  in  time,  assert  its  independence, 
and  humble  the  pride  and  power  of  their  great  rival  across  the 
channel. 


6 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


Viewing  the  Acadian  Peninsula  as  one  country,  open  to 
occupancy  by  one  race,  its  metropolitan  city  would  naturally  be 
at  Sagadahoc,  the  river  best  known  and  most  valued  for  its  fish, 
of  any  one  inside  the  Gulf  of  Maine. 

Yielding  all  east  of  the  Sagadahoc  to  the  French,  Boston  was 
naturally  its  commercial  and  geographical  centre.  The  super- 
iority of  its  harbor  over  any  one  between  it  and  the  Piscataqua, 
and  its  deeper  indentation  into  the  interior,  gave  Boston  an  early, 
if  not  its  first  start  in  the  race,  which  it  has  always  maintained 
since  the  days  of  Pemaquid. 

Looking  beyond  New  England,  or  the  limits  of  the  Acadian 
Peninsula,  Boston  fails  to  enjoy  any  natural  advantages  for 
becoming  metropolitan  in  character.  The  great  Gulf  of  Maine, 
lying  inside  Cape  Cod  and  Cape  Sable,  reaches  further  inland 
towards  the  navigable  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  at  Portland, 
by  nearly  a hundred  miles  of  distance,  than  at  Boston,  and  at 
the  city  of  Bangor  the  tide  penetrates  still  further  inland,  with 
a deep,  navigable  channel,  on  a river  greater  in  its  flow  of  water 
than  the  Hudson,  while  St.  John  City  is  at  the  mouth  of  the 
greatest  river  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi, 
which  drains  a country  twice  in  extent  that  of  any  river  east  of 
the  Potomac. 

The  Sagadahoc  affords  no  harbor  so  accessible  from  the 
interior  as  that  of  Portland  at  the  head  of  Casco  Bay,  where  its 
navigable  waters  reach  within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  naviga- 
ble waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  opposite  Montreal ; so  that 
Portland  has  the  most  favorable  position  for  a commercial 
emporium,  of  any  city  between  Boston  and  Bangor.  Portland, 
Bangor,  and  St.  John,  are,  therefore,  the  natural  competitors  of 
Boston  for  commercial  supremacy.  Boston  is  inferior  to  either 
in  natural  resources,  with  no  river  of  magnitude  to  bring  to  it 
the  trade  of  the  interior,  and  owes  her  present  supremacy  to  the 
circumstances  that  have  surrounded  the  past  history  of  the 
country. 

New  York  is  at  the  foot  of  that  long  level  that  extends  from 
Lake  Erie  to  the  ocean,  over  which  the  products  of  the  great 
Northwest,  which  can  be  water-borne  on  the  upper  lakes,  must 
find  an  easier  and  cheaper  route  to  the  open  sea  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Hudson,  than  by  any  route  from  the  valloy  of  that  river 
to  Boston. 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


7 


Portland  is  the  nearest  good  harbor  to  Montreal — (open  at 
all  seasons  of  the  year) — the  great  depot  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
basin,  where  the  sea-going  ships  must  always  meet  to  exchange 
cargoes  with  the  crafts  that  navigate  the  canals  and  lakes 
above.  What  can  be  taken  off  in  summer  by  the  St.  Lawrence 
flows  down  to  Quebec,  the  nearest  American  ocean  port  to 
Europe,  at  the  foot  of  the  great  Mediterranean  sea  of  *North 
America, — which,  but  for  the  closing  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in 
winter,  would  become  the  great  shipping  port  of  the  continent. 
Whatever  is  left  over  in  Montreal,  or  can  flow  there  in  winter 
by  rail,  comes  to  Portland  for  export  or  distribution.  This  is 
the  natural  route  to  Boston  for  Western  produce. 

All  attempts  of  Boston  to  compete  for  Western  trade  in  the 
direction  of  the  Hudson,  have  been  comparative  failures ; for 
beyond  the  supply  of  the  local  markets,  breadstuff’s  and  provis- 
ions do  not  come  by  this  route  to  Boston  for  export. 

These  results,  obvious  to  all,  not  necessary  to  enlarge  upon, 
are  due  to  physical  laws.  Two  ranges  of  hills  lie  in  parallel 
lines  between  the  Valley  of  the  Hudson  and  Boston,  on  each 
side  the  Connecticut  River,  across  which  lines  of  railway  already 
connect  the  seaboard  of  New  England  with  the  West ; but  the 
heavy  transportation  flows  down  the  Hudson  River  to  its 
mouth,  in  spite  of  all  attractions  this  way,  in  less  distance  than 
to  Massachusetts  Bay. 

An  examination  of  the  commonest  principles  of  physical 
geography  must  convince  any  one  that  Boston  has  not  advan- 
tages for  commerce  equal  to  New  York  or  Portland.  She  can 
maintain  her  relative  commercial  position  in  no  other  way  than 
by  a wise  exercise  of  her  realized  capital — shaping  the  direction 
of  trade  and  developing  the  resources  that  lie  beyond  dispute 
within  her  grasp. 

The  railway  has  done  much  to  overcome  natural  obstacles, 
and  aid  the  exertions  of  her  people  in  securing  the  progress  of 
Massachusetts,  by  the  cheapening  of  the  transit  of  commodities 
and  productions,  and  giving  employment  to  a large  population ; 
but  the  railway  cannot  entirely  overcome  the  force  of  natural 
advantages.  Cheapness  of  transit  is  the  governing  law  of  com- 
merce, modified  by  facilities  for  manufactures.  Capital  can, 
for  awhile,  influence,  if  not  control,  the  location  of  workshops 


8 


MEMORIAL.  - 


[Jan. 


and  manufactories — but  it  gradually  yields  to  the  laws  of  cli- 
mate and  physical  advantage.  Water-power  must  in  the  end 
determine  the  location  of  workshops  and  factories,  influenced 
to  some  extent  by  the  cheapness  of  food,  and  the  easy  supply,  at 
cheap  rates,  of  materials  for  building. 

From  her  favorable  position  in  a limited  range  of  territory, 
as  a centre  of  trade,  Boston  throve  rapidly  by  the  growth  of 
manufactures,  and,  while  constructing  her  lines  of  railway, 
connecting  her  with  the  surrounding  country.  But  the  vast 
increase  of  the  wealth  and  population  of  Massachusetts,  for  the 
thirty  years  from  1830  to  1860,  was  due  to  the  fact  of  the  with- 
drawal of  its  population,  and  that  of  other  portions  of  New 
England,  from  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  into  manufactures, 
and  the  rapid  development  of  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
industry.  From  610,408  in  1830,  she  increased  to  1,231,065 
in  1860 — doubling  her  population  in  less  than  thirty  years — 
showing  an  increase  of  20.8  per  cent,  from  1830  to  1840  ; of 
34.8  per  cent,  from  1840  to  1850  ; of  24  per  cent,  from  1850  to 
1860. 

In  forty  years,  from  1790  to  1830,  the  population  of  Massa- 
chusetts increased  from  378,717  to  610,408  in  1830 — at  the 
rate  of  11.7  per  cent,  from  1790  to  1800  ; 11.5  per  cent,  from 
1800  to  1810  ; 10.9  per  cent,  from  1810  to  1820  ; and  16.6  per 
cent,  from  1820  to  1830. 

From  1860  to  1865,  the  increase  of  population  in  Massachu- 
setts has  been  but  36,263,  or  less  than  3 per  cent,  in  five  years. 
This  increase  is  in  Boston  and  in  ten  other  cities  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, where  there  has  been  an  increase  of  45,230,  and  a 
falling  off  of  8,736  in  four  other  cities — Lowell,  New  Bedford, 
Salem,  and  Newburyport. 

The  greatest  relative  increase  has  been  in  Springfield,  trace- 
able to  the  additional  labors  in  the  armory,  supplying  muskets 
for  the  war. 

These  facts  show,  that  the  elements  of  prosperity  upon  which 
Massachusetts  grew  so  rapidly  from  1830  to  1860,  has  caused 
her  so  to  increase  her  wealth,  that  it  has  forced  her  to  overgrow 
her  own  territory.  Her  available  water-power  is  already  in 
requisition,  and  cannot  be  much  increased.  Her  lands  capable 
of  cultivation  are  in  use,  and  there  are  17,208  acres  less  of 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


9 


land  in  farms  in  1860  than  in  1850 — a condition  of  things 
unknown  in  any  other  State  of  the  Union,  except  Rhode  Island, 
where  the  same  influences  have  controlled  the  labors  of  indus- 
try as  in  Massachusetts.  Of  the  4,992,000  acres  of  land  in 
Massachusetts,  3,338,816  were  included  in  farm  limits  in  1860. 
Her  capital  is  now  seeking  investment  beyond  her  own  borders. 

There  is  still  opportunity  for  Massachusetts  capital  within 
the  limits  of  New  England.  Of  the  20,330,242  acres  of  land 
in  Maine,  17,653,106  acres  remain  without  cultivation  ; and 
the  14,624,567  acres  not  included  within  the  limits  of  farms, 
are,  on  an  average,  of  better  quality  than  those  of  the 
Go  m mon  wealth. 

Alongside  navigable  waters,  and  on  the  lines  of  its  railways 
in  Maine,  water-power  runs  to  waste  in  unmeasured  abund- 
ance, and  building  material,  brick,  lumber,  granite,  lime  and 
slate,  are  cheaper  there  than  in  any  part  of  the  country. 

Boston  capitalists,  therefore,  if  they  seek  the  growth  of  their 
city  and  State,  must  develop  the  country  tliat  lies  to  the  north 
and  east  of  it,  now  waiting  the  advent  of  the  railway  and  the 
factory.  Population  follows  capital  easily  into  healthy  locali- 
ties, and  the  success  of  Lewiston  and  Biddeford  is  only  a type 
of  what  shall  be  witnessed  in  other  places  in  Maine.  The 
profit  of  whatever  industry  is  planted  north  and  east  of  Massa- 
chusetts, flows  back  by  a natural  law  into  the  coffers  of  those 
investing  it,  while  the  enlargement  of  trade  adds  in  the  same 
proportion  to  the  growth  of  Boston. 

A new  era  of  manufacturing  industry  is  opened  up  to  New 
England,  not  unlike  that  forty  years  ago. 

She  has  the  climate  and  the  water-power ; she  has  also  the 
capital  and  the  skill,  beyond  what  she  ever  before  had,  to  meet 
this  great  opportunity.  The  National  Government  must  retain 
a high  tariff*,  and  thereby  keep  out  foreign  fabrics  and  manufac- 
tures for  years  to  come,  and  competition,  skill,  and  capital,  will 
enable  our  manufacturers  at  the  end  of  a second  decade,  to 
enter  the  markets  of  the  world,'  side  by  side  with  those  of 
Britain,  France,  or  Germany. 

Capital  planted  on  the  Saco,  the  Androscoggin,  th‘e  Kenne- 
bec and  the  Penobscot,  yields  the  same  profit  to  the  owner  as 
if  it  was  located  on  the  Merrimac  or  Piscataqua,  while  the 
2 


MEMORIAL. 


10 


[Jan. 


capital  planted  on  the  lower  Connecticut  waters  with  no  more 
profit,  sends  off  its  business  to  New  York. 

All  that  portion  of  the  Acadian  Peninsula  that  slopes  toward 
the  Gulf  of  Maine,  naturally  seeks  Boston  for  its  market,  and 
this  region  exceeds  in  extent  all  New  England.  What  falls  off 
into  the  Hudson,  Labe  Champlain,  or  Long  Island  Sound, 
belongs  naturally  to  other  marts  of  trade  outside  New  England. 

Boston  should  seek  to  throw  Western  trade  upon  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  as  far  east  as  possible,  not  short  of  Montreal;  so 
that  in  its  struggle  to  reach  New  York,  to  which  it  is  drawn  by 
the  laws  of  commercial  gravitation,  Boston  may  interpose  the 
superior  attractions  of  a better  market.  What  fails  to  reach 
the  ocean  by  water  from  Montreal,  comes  southward  to  the 
open  sea  in  winter. 

The  railway  from  Montreal  to  Portland,  the  great  enterprise 
of  its  day  for  Massachusetts  as  well  as  for  Maine  and  New 
England,  built  without  the  aid  of  Massachusetts  capital,  since 
expanded  into  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  of  Canada,  ought, 
with  the  support  of  Boston  capital,  to  extend  its  line  to  a point 
of  junction  and  connection  with  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
of  the  United  States,  while  it*  unites  with  that  of  Portland  in 
bringing  everything  possible  from  the  West  to  the  open  sea  at 
that  harbor,  holding  the  great  line  from  St.  John  and  Halifax 
to  Boston  as  near  as  possible  to  the  seaboard,  by  the  shortest 
route.  Throwing  its  line  to  the  Pacific,  north  of  Lake  Huron, 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sea  of  North  America,  will  in 
time  become  as  densely  peopled  as  those  of  the  ancient  sea  of 
the  old  world : and,  while  made  navigable  for  its  entire  length 
for  ocean  vessels  in  summer,  the  outlets  of  trade  in  winter  at 
Portland,  Bangor,  and  St.  John,  by  lines  of  railway,  and  by 
others  to  be  still  further  extended,  will  cause  all  these  commer- 
cial points  at  the  East  to  thrive  and  increase  in  population  and 
wealth  in  proportion  to  the  growth  and  development  of  business 
in  their  respective  regions,  while  Boston,  with  her  greater  capi- 
tal, will  secure  its  share  of  its  trade.  Every  new  clearing  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Penobscot  or  St.  John  creates  a market  for 
the  manufactures  of  Massachusetts  ; and  every  cargo  of  lum- 
ber or  produce  sent  here  to  market  adds  to  the  business  of  the 
metropolis  of  New  England.  Double  the  population  of  Maine 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


11 


and  New  Brunswick,  and  Boston  is  increased  in  the  same 
propohion. 

If  Boston  fails  to  participate  in  the  present  movement  for 
developing  the  business  of  the  great  region  east,  other  places 
will  become  markets  for  their  business,  and  St.  John,  Bangor 
and  Portland  intercept  the  trade  that  now  seeks  connection 
with  the  larger  markets  of  Boston  and  New  York. 

The  railway  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  connecting  all  the 
commercial  cities  east  by  one  arterial  line,  unites  the  fortunes 
of  all  this  region  with  Massachusetts  and  Boston.  Refuse  to 
unite  in  this  movement,  and  Montreal,  Portland,  Bangor,  St. 
John  and  Halifax,  united  in  one  common  undertaking,  will 
force  Boston  to  find  new  fields  for  conquest  and  cultivation. 

The  region  of  country  which  before  the  advent  of  railways 
was  naturally  connected  with  Boston  and  Massachusetts,  com- 
mercially by  water,  and  with  still  greater  intimacy  since  the 
reciprocity  treaty  has  been  in  force,  and  which,  from  the  indif- 
ference of  Massachusetts,  would  naturally  fall  into  other  asso- 
ciations, and  over  which  Massachusetts  will,  if  it  is  overlooked, 
gradually  lose  its  hold,  embraces  the  northern  portions  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshere,  almost  the  entire  State  of  Maine, 
and  the  British  maritime  Provinces  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Prince  Edward’s  Island. 

Statistics  showing  the  present  trade,  revenue  and  resources 
of  this  eastern  world  are  worthy  of  notice  in  this  connection, 
though  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  fragmentary  and 
imperfect. 

Maine. — Area,  31,776  square  miles,  20,830,242  acres  ; pop- 
ulation in  1860,628,276  ; ships  built  in  1860,  57,866  tons; 
ships  owned,  801,941  tons ; valuation,  $190,211,600  ; acres  in 
farms,  5,700,676  ; acres  under  cultivation,  2,677,136  ; value  of 
farms  in  1850,  $54,861,748  ; in  1860,  $78,688,525. 

For  the  year  ending  June  30, 1865,  the  imports  into  Port- 
land, Maine,  were,  $7,261,324,  against  $339,791  in  1845.  For 
the  calendar  year  1865  the  exports  from  Portland  were, 
$8,260,463,  against  $251,097  in  1845.  In  1863  the  exports 
from  Portland  were,  $5,018,365  ; and  in  1864,  $5,491,735. 

[The  imports  into  Boston  in  1854  were  $45,998,545 ; in 
1863,  $27,083,272  ; in  1864,  $32,064,678  ; and  in  1865,  $29,- 
296,136.  For  the  calendar  year  ending  June  30,  1865,  the 


12 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 

imports  into  Boston  were  $24,131,460,  against  $7,261,324, 
entered  at  Portland.  In  1854  goods  for  Canada  valued  at 
$5,178,911  were  entered  at  the  Boston  custom-house  ; in  1863 
the  amount  had  fallen  to  $340,216.  These  goods  now  pass  by 
the  way  of  Portland.] 

New  Brunswick.  — Population  in  1861,  252,047 ; area, 
27,704  square  miles ; acres,  17,730,560 ; acres  cultivated, 
885,108  ; bushels  of  wheat  raised,  279,775  ; potatoes,  4,591,- 
447  ; oats,  2,656,883  ; showing  a greater  yield  of  products  per 
acre  than  in  any  State  of  New  England.  In  1861  New  Bruns- 
wick owned  227,718  tons  of  ships  ; built  48,719  tons  in  1862  ; 
85,250  tons  in  1863.  Her  revenue  in  1863,  $889,991,  and 
$980,000  in  1864.  Her  exports  in  1863  were,  $8,964,784  ; 
imports,  $7,764,824.  1,491,781  tons  of  ships  were  built  in 
New  Brunswick  from  1825  to  1863. 

Nova  Scotia. — Population  in  1861,  330,699  ; square  miles, 
18,746;  ships  built  in  1862,  39,383  tons  ; in  1863,  67,202 
tons ; ships  owned  in  1863",  309,554  tons  ; exports  in  1865, 
$8,830,033  ; revenue  in  1865,  $1,206,571  ; coals  raised  and 
shipped  in  1865,  651,256  tons,  against  392,631  tons  in  1862, 
and  429,351  tons  in  1863.  Gold  to  the  amount  of  $497,520 
was  taken  out  of  her  mines  in  1865,  yielding  $2.13  per  day  for 
labor  in  mining  it. 

In  1865  the  receipts  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Railway  were 
$183,060,  against  $168,796  in  1864. 

Prince  Edward's  Island. — Area,  2,134  square  miles ; popula- 
tion in  1861,  80,648  ; exports  in  1863,  $1,627,540  ; imports, 
$1,428,028;  revenue  in  1863,  $197,384  ; expenditures,  $171,- 
718 ; ships  built  in  1863,  24,991  tons.  $517,265  of  her 
exports  came  to  the  United  States  in  1863. 

This  great  region,  including  Maine,  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Prince  Edward’s  Island,  containing  80,350  square 
miles  of  territory,  had  a population  in  1861  of  only  1,291,670 
persons  ; while  Massachusetts,  with  only  7,800  square  miles  of 
territory,  had  in  1860  1,231,065  population — with  inferior 
advantages  and  resources — or,  157  persons  to  the  square  mile. 
The  same  ratio  of  population  to  territory  in  this  eastern  region 
would  give  them  over  twelve  millions  of  people,  whose  business 
-—if  railway  facilities  are  afforded — would  as  naturally  fall  into 


I860.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


13 


Boston  as  that  of  the  county  of  Middlesex  in  Massachusetts,  of 
Rockingham  in  New  Hampshire,  or  York  County  in  Maine. 

While  English  capitalists,  under  the  lead  of  Sir  Morton  Peto, 
propose  to  construct  a double  track  line  on  the  six  feet  gauge, 
in  extension  of  the  Atlantic  and  Great  Western  Railway  to 
New  York  City,  by  an  independent  route,  they  also  propose 
further  to  extend  a branch  of  the  same  gauge  to  Chicago,  so 
that,  with  their  present  line  to  St.  Louis,  and  their  new  line  to 
Chicago,  they  design  to  reduce  the  cost  of  transit  from  these 
great  Western  cities,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  to  tide  water  at 
New  York  Harbor,  to  the  lowest  point  of  land  carriage,  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year ; — the  plans  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway 
Company  of  Canada  as  now  developed,  contemplate  a direct 
broad  gauge  line  from  the  foot  of  .Lake  Huron  to  Chicago  by 
way  of  Lansing,  the  capital  of  Michigan,  securing  an  uninter- 
rupted line  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  Portland. 

In  1865,  no  less  than  857,963  ban-els  of  flour  and  2,120,550 
bushels  of  grain  came  to  Portland  \>y  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
way, rendering  the  people  of  Maine  independent  of  other 
routes  for  their  breadstuff’s. 

A change  of  gauge  from  Portland  to  Boston  may  become  a 
necessity,  unless  Boston  is  to  be  insulated,  in  reference  to  the 
great  movements  for  Western  trade.  Produce  that  starts  from 
Chicago  by  rail  to  go  south  of  Lake  Erie,  must  and  will  conti- 
nue to  flow  down  to  New  York  City  more  cheaply  than  to 
Boston.  Produce  that  follows  down  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario  by  rail,  or  by  water  to  Montreal,  will  find  a cheaper 
route  to  the  sea,  than  by  a rail  to  Boston.  Lowell,  Lawrence 
and  intermediate  places  will  get  their  supplies  of  food,  by  way 
of  Portland.  By  uniting  with  these  great  interests  at  the  north 
and  east,  instead  of  inventing  new  and  rival  schemes  that  must 
encounter  intense  competition,  Massachusetts  may  continue  to 
be,  for  years  to  come,  the  centre,  not  only  of  a vast  manufactur- 
ing, but  of  a great  commercial  community  holding  the  same 
relation  to  New  England,  that  London  does  to  the  British  Isles. 
The  vast  domain  lying  at  the  north  and  east,  will  most  profit- 
ably of  any  section  of  the  continent,  employ  her  realized  wealth, 
her  active  capital  and  her  surplus  population. 

If  our  theory  is  correct,  that  passengers,  treasure  and  valuable 
packages  of  merchandise,  will  seek  the  railway  from  Halifax  to 


14 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


Portland,  Montreal,  Chicago,  Boston  and  New  York,  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  slower  and  less  certain  voyage  of  the  ocean  steamer, 
the  influence  of  this  new  direction  of  capital  and  trade,  in 
increasihg  the  commercial  importance  of  New  England,  are 
beyond  our  ability  to  foretell  or  even  to  conceive, — and  the 
profitableness  of  the  line  will  exceed  that  of  any  railway  of  the 
country.  The  way  business  of  the  provincial  lines  is  already  in 
excess  of  the  cost  of  running  trains.  Add  twenty  through  pas- 
sengers daily  each  way,  to  and  from  Halifax  and  Bangor,  and  it 
is  a paying  line  at  once. 

In  1864,  185,807  persons  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by 
steamers,  and  in  1865,  a still  greater  number.  All  ocean  steamers, 
it  is  admitted,  will  touch  at  Halifax  to  receive  and  land  passen- 
gers, as  soon  as  this  line  runs  through . If  one-tenth  of  the 
ocean  passengers  only,  took  the  land  route,  instead  of  one-half , 
the  usual  estimate,  of  the  number,  a paying  line  is  secured. 
This  would  give  twenty-two  passengers  daily  each  way,  or  forty- 
four  through  passengers  da^ly  from  Bangor  to  Halifax  on  the 
travel  of  1864,  a number  sufficient  to  insure  a paying  business 
for  the  entire  route. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  there- 
fore, respectfully  asks  the  general  court  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts  to  aid  said  company  as  purposed  by  the  Act  of 
1864,  by  authorizing  the  governor  and  council  to  invest  in  the 
permanent  school  fund  the  amount  of  its  five  per  cent,  debt 
due  from  the- State  of  Maine,  in  their  six  per  cent,  land  bonds, 
enabling  the  company  to  realize  the  grant  of  the  public  lands 
of  Maine  ; and  the  Commonwealth  to  loan  its  credit  to  said 
company,  on  the  security  of  the  railway,  and  the  public  lands 
granted  it  by  Maine,  to  the  amount  of  its  land  bonds  as  afore- 
said, on  the  assurance  that  such  aid  will  secure  the  completion 
of  the  entire  line  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  as  proposed,  and 
bring  in  its  train  an  enlargement  and  development  of  the  pop- 
ulation, wealth  and  moral  power  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  in  common  with  that  of  the  States  and  Provinces 
thereby  made  one,  in  interest,  and  in  commercial  enterprise. 

By  order  of  the  directors. 

JOHN  A.  POOR, 

Preset  of  the  E.  Sf  N.  A.  Railway  Co. 

Boston,  January  15,  1866. 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


16 


APPENDIX. 

41 


[A.] 


tate  of  Paine. 


Executive  Department,  Augusta,  April  1,  1864. 

To  His  Excellency  John  A.  Andrew,  Governor  Commonwealth  of 

Massachusetts : 

Sir, — I have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  to  your  Excellency  a 
copy  of  Resolves  passed  by  the  legislature  of  Maine,  Marcfi  25,  1864, 
“inviting  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to  cooperate  with  Maine 
in  extending  aid  to  a military  road  from  Bangor  to  St.  John  River, ” 
and  to  inform  you  that,  in  compliance  therewith,  I have  appointed,  as 
commissioners,  Honorables  Edward  Kent,  John  Hubbard,  -and  Israel 
Washburn,  Jr. 

I am,  Sir,  most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

SAM’L  CONY,  Governor  of  Maine. 


STATE  OF  MAINE. 

Resolve,  inviting  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to  cooperate 
with  Maine,  in  extending  aid  to  a Military  Road  from  Bangor  to  the 
St.  John  River. 

Whereas,  By  the  act  of  separation  of  Maine  from  Massachusetts, 
approved  June  nineteenth,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred 
and  nineteen,  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  retained  one-half  of 
all  the  public  lands  lying  within  the  then  District  of  Maine — which  had 
merely  a nominal  value  at  the  time  Maine  became  an  independent 
State — which  lands,  from  the  care,  oversight  and  guardianship  of  the 


16 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan . 

same  by  the  State  of  Maine,  became  of  great  value,  from  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  which,  to  individual  purchasers,  large  sums  of  money 
accrued  to  the  treasury  of  Massachusetts,  before  the  sale  of  her  interests 
therein  to  the  State  of  Maine;  and 

Whereas , The  State  of  Maine  did,  on  the  fifth  day  of  October,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-three,  purchase  all  the 
remaining  rights  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  and  to  the  lands,  to 
her  belonging,  lying  in  the  State  of  Maine,  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  money,  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine; 
and1 

Whereas , The.  people  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  espe- 
cially those  of  the  eastern  part  of  said  State,  and  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
have  a great,  if  not  an  equal  interest,  with  the  people  of  Maine,  in  the 
settlement  of  the  northern  and  north-eastern  sections  of  Maine,  and  in 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  this  State,  and  will  be  directly  benefited  by 
the  extension  of  railways  to  the  north-eastern  frontier  and  to  the  British 
Provinces;  and 

Whereas,  The  people  of  Maine  are  desirous  of  securing  a military 
railroad  from  the  city  of  Bangor  to  the  north-eastern  boundary ; and  of 
obtaining  aid  from  Congress  toward  the  accomplishment  of  said  under- 
taking ; and  the  State  of  Maine  proposes  to  grant  all  the  aid  in  its 
power  to  the  parties  who  shall  carry  out  said  work,  and  assign  to  the 
European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  all  its  claim  on  the 
United  States  Government,  which  occurred  prior  to  the  year  of  our 
Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty ; and 

Whereas , These  claims  are  of  little  o*r  no  value  in  the  present  aspect 
of  public  affairs,  but  may  be  made  useful  as  an  inducement  to  aid  a 
work  of  military  necessity;  and 

Whereas,  The  military  necessities  of  the  country  now  call  for  a rail- 
road from  Bangor  to  the  St.  John  River,  and  the  general  government, 
through  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  military  department  of  the  east,  has 
expressed  an  earnest  opinion  in  favor  of  this  measure.  Therefore — 
Resolved,  That  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  be  respectfully 
invited  to  cooperate  with  Maine  in  its  efforts  to  construct  said  railroad; 
and,  for  this  purpose,  to  assign  and  transfer  the  claims  jointly  held  by 
her  with  Maine  on  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  aid  the  con- 
struction of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway,  from  the  city 
of  Bangor  to  the  St.  John  River,  and  to  the  boundary  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, and  also  the  unpaid  balance  of  the  bonds  or  certificates  of  indebt- 
edness given  by  the  State  of  Maine  as  the  consideration  of  the  purchase 
of  said  lands,  dated  October  fifth,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-three,  now 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


IT 


amounting  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and 
interest. 

Resolved , That  the  Governor  be  authorized  and  requested  to  appoint 
three  commissioners  for  this  State,  to  present  this  application  to  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  a copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  be 
transmitted  by  His  Excellency  the  Governor  of  Maine  to  the  Governor 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  March  25,  1864.  Read  and  passed. 

NELSON  DINGLEY,  Jr.,  Speaker. 

In  Senate,  March  25,  1864.  Read  and  passed. 

GEORGE  B.  BARROWS,  President. 

March  25,  1864,  Approved.  SAM’L  CONY. 


STATE  OF  MAINE. 

Office  of  Secretary  of  State,  ) 
Augusta,  April  1,  1864.  ) 

I hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a true  copy  of  the  original,  as 
deposited  in  this  office. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  affixed 
the  seal  of  the  State,  at  Augusta,  this  first  day  of  April,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-four, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-eighth. 

JAMES  H.  COCHRANE, 

Deputy  Secretary  of  State . 


18 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


[B.] 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

MEMORIAL. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 

Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts , in  Legislature  assembled. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  a corporation 
established  by  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Maine,  respectfully  requests  such 
aid,  assistance  and  encouragement  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts, towards  the  completion  of  a line  of  railway  from  the  city  of 
Boston  to  the  city  of  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  as  the  importance  of  the 
enterprise  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  obligation  of 
the  Commonwealth  to  the  State  of  Maine,  growing  out  of  their  common 
ownership  of  public  lands  lying  in  Maine,  may  seem  fairly  to  demand. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway,  when  constructed,  will 
complete  the  chain  of  railroads,  from  the  city  of  Boston  through  the 
States  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  the  Provinces  of  New 
Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  to  the  city  of  Halifax,  a distance  of  706 
miles.  The  line  is  now  completed  as  far  east  as  Bangor,  a distance  of 
248  miles ; from  thence  to  the  city  of  St.  John,  in  New  Brunswick, — 
the  distance  of  196  miles, — remains  unfinished;  although  a large 
portion  of  the  means  for  its  construction  is  already  provided, — for  the 
completion  of  which,  the  aid  of  the  Commonwealth  is  invoked. 

From  the  city  of  St.  John  east  towards  Halifax,  101  miles  in  New 
Brunswick  are  already  constructed,  and  61  miles  in  Nova  Scotia, — from 
Halifax  to  Truro, — leaving  one  hundred  miles  to  be  built,  between 
Halifax  and  St.  John,  to  complete  the  link  between  the  two  cities. 

Arrangements  have  been  consumated  by  the  governments  of  New 
Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  with  a company  of  English  capitalists,  to 
build  this  100  miles, — 69  miles  of  which  are  in  the  Province  of  Nova 
Scotia,  and  31  miles  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick; — so  that  the 
means  are  provided  for  completing  the  entire  chain  of  railways  between 
Boston  and  Halifax,  with  the  simple  exception  of  the  section  between 
Bangor  and  St.  John, — 88  miles  of  it  lying  in  New  Brunswick,  and  108 
miles  in  Maine. 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


19 


From  the  reports  of  the  surveys  now  in  progress,  a comparatively 
favorable  route  has  been  ascertained  and  adopted,  passing  from  Bangor 
up  the  Penobscot  River  to  the  valley  of  the  Mattawamkeag  River 
crossing  the  boundary  below  the  Cheputnecook  Lakes,  on  the  St.  Croix, 
and  north  of  Oromocto  Lake,  in  New  Brunswick,  through  the  Douglas 
Valley,  to  the  Suspension  Bridge  at  St.  John  city. 

The  Province  of  New  Brunswick  granted  a charter  April  13,  1864, 
for  the  extension  of  this  line  from  St.  John  city  to  the  boundary  of 
Maine,  *and  the  company  thus  incorporated  proposes  to  raise  $400,000 
in  subscriptions  to  its  stock.  The  government  of  the  Province  has 
granted  aid  to  said  company  at  the  rate  of  $10,000  per  mile,  as  a gift, 
on  which  neither  principal  nor  interest  is  to  be  returned, — payable  as 
the  work  progresses. 

The  State  of  Maine,  by  an  Act  approved  March  24,  1864,  donated 
the  timber  on  ten  (10)  townships  of  her  public 'lands,  and  all  her  claims 
against  the  United  States  government  which  accrued  prior  to  1860,  to 
aid  the  construction  of  this  line,  and  the  extension  of  a branch  line  to 
the  St.  John  River  at  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  the  United  States. 

The  claims  of  this  enterprise  were  presented  to  Congress,  and  an  able 
committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1864, 
reported  unanimously  a Bill  designed  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  Maine, 
with  an  elaborate  statement  of  the  facts  of  the  case, — proposing  a 
contribution  of  $10,000  per  mile  to  aid  the  construction  of  the 
European  and  North  American  Railway, — which  Bill  is  now  pending 
before  Congress. 

The  limited  amount  of  capital  applicable  to  the  construction  of 
railways  in  the  eastern  part  of  Maine,  and  the  constitutional  inhibition 
upon  the  use  of  the  credit  of  the  State, — many  years  since  established, — 
have  rendered  it  impossible  to  carry  the  work  beyond  Bangor.  Two 
attempts  to  construct  this  line  beyond  Bangor  have  failed  of  success. 
But  the  capital  expended  has  not  been  entirely  lost.  The  Penobscot 
Railroad  Company  partially  completed  the  line  from  Bangor  to  Milford, 
and  the  Oldtown  and  Lincoln  Railroad  Company  expended  a consid- 
erable amount  in  extension  of  the  line  from  Milford  to  Mattawamkeag. 
A transfer  has  been  made  of  all  the  rights  of  these  two  companies  to 
the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  under  authority 
of  an  Act  of  the  legislature  of  Maine ; so  that  this  company  is  now  in 
possession  of  property  costing  over  $350,000,  at  the  prices  of  former 
years, — worth  at  this  time  more  than  that  amount,  from  the  favorable 
terms  on  which  the  right  of  way  was  secured,  and  the  substantial 
character  of  the  work  of  construction. 

The  city  of  Bangor,  under  authority  of  an  Act  approved  March  25, 
1864,  authorizing  a loan  of  its  credit  to  aid  the  construction  of  this  line, 


20 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


lias,  by  unanimous  vote  of  both  branches  of  the  city  council  and  by  vote 
of  the  citizens,  in  the  proportion  of  1,730  to  112,  authorized  a loan  of  its 
credit  to  the  amount  of  $500,000,  payable  on  the  completion  of  the  line 
from  Bangor  to  Lincoln. 

Resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Maine  legislature  of  1864,  inviting 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to  co-operate  with  Maine  in 
extending  aid  to  this  railway,  and  in  full  expectation  thereof,  Maine 
made  a further  grant  of  all  its  residuary  interest  in  its  public  lands  on 
the  waters  of  the  Penobscot  and  St.  John,  to  aid  the  construction  of  this 
railway,  on  condition  that  Massachusetts  would  discharge  her  debt 
against  Maine,  and  assign  the  claims  against  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, held  by  her,  jointly  with  Maine,  to  the  same  purpose. 

The  Governor  of  Maine,  in  his  recent  address  to  the  legislature  of 
that  State,  makes  use  of  the  following  language  : 

“ Until  it  is  settled  whether  the  European  and  North  American  Rail- 
way Company  shall  so  far  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the  Resolves  in 
favor  of  that  corporation,  sales  of  lands  or  timber  will  be  necessarily 
held  in  abeyance.  In  compliance  with  certain  Resolves  invoking  the 
aid  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  in  behalf  of  this  important 
enterprise,  Honorable  Messrs.  Kent,  Hubbard,  and  Washburn,  were 
appointed  commissioners  to  present  the  subject  to  the  government  of  our 
parent  Commonwealth.  They  will  make  a report  of  their  doings  which 
will  be  laid  before  you  in  due  season. 

“ The  application  was  not  successful,  and  one  very  strong  ground  of 
objection  was  the  alleged  unfriendly  action  of  the  legislature  of  this 
State  some  years  since,  and  still  unrepealed,  in  regard  to  connections 
■with  railroads  west  of  Portland,  having  their  termini  at  Boston.  I 
would  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  this  subject  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  the  supposed  exigency,  which  called  for  this 
legislation,  exists  at  this  time.  In  the  early  history  of  railroads  in  this 
State,  certain  policies  were  regarded  as  indispensable,  the  wisdom  of 
which  has  hardly  been  justified  by  experience.  That  the  legislation 
referred  to  belongs  to  that  class,  is  more  than  probable.  A neighboring 
State  can  hardly  be  expected  to  contribute  in  aid  of  an  enterprise,  in 
the  benefits  of  which  it  is  not  to  be  allowed  to  participate.  It  is  only 
upon  the  ground  of  a common  interest  to  be  promoted  by  the  freest 
intercommunication  that  any  such  claim  for  co-operation  can  be  asked 
with  prospect  of  success.  In  addition  to  a common  interest  believed  to 
exist,  there  are  considerations  connected  with  the  past  history  of  the 
public  lands  of  Maine,  forming  the  joint  property  of  Massachusetts  and 
our  own  State,  which  may  fairly  be  urged  as  a reason  for  seeking 
assistance  from  the  Commonwealth  in  aid  of  the  European  and  North 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


21 


American  Railway  Company.  Many  years  since  arrangements  were 
entered  into  between  the  two  States  for  the  management  of  their 
common  domain,  and  among  other  stipulations  was  one  for  the  expendi- 
ture of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  land  and  timber,  to  the  extent  of 
not  more  than  ten  per  cent.,  in  making  improvements  through  these 
lands  by  the  construction  of  roads,  and  rendering  the  water-courses 
navigable.  But  a very  small  part  of  this  sum  was  expended,  as  it  is 
well  known  to  every  person  at  all  conversant  with  the  history  of  our 
public  lands.” 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  interests  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and 
more  especially  those  of  the  city  of  Portland,  will  be  promoted  by  the 
extension  of  a line  of  railway  on  the  road  gauge,  between  Portland  and 
Boston,  securing  the  transit  of  produce,  goods  and  merchandise,  without 
transhipment,  between  Boston  and  Canada  by  this  channel,  which  would 
otherwise  seek  other  routes, — connecting  at  Portland  with  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railway  of  Canada,  and  with  the  railways  on  the  same  gauge, 
extending  through  Maine  to  the  lower  British  Provinces, — and  by 
increasing  the  business  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  and  the  connecting 
lines  east  of  Portland,  cheapen  the  cost  of  transit  over  the  railways  of 
Maine ; — and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  that  all  laws  in  restraint  of 
such  an  arrangement,  will  be  repealed  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion 
of  the  governor  of  Maine. 

The  application  of  last  year  to  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  in 
behalf  of  this  enterprise,  was  urged,  more  upon  grounds  of  public  policy 
than  by  an  assertion  of  the  claims  of  Maine,  growing  out  of  the  joint 
ownership  of  their  large  public  domain.  The  former  intimate  political 
relations  of  the  two  States,  the  fidelity  of  Maine  to  her  obligations  under 
the  Act  of  separation,  and  the  equitable  claims  of  Maine  upon  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  justify  a reference  to  their  past 
history. 

The  New  England  Company , whose  charter  from  King  James,  of 
November  3d,  1620,  gave  them  a territory  extending  from  the  fortieth 
to  the  forty-eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
granted  that  portion  of  New  England,  from  the  Merrimac  to  the  Saga- 
dahoc, to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  John  Mason,  under  the  name  of 
“the  Province  of  Maine f August  10th,  1622.  The  Piscataqua 
became  the  boundary  between  these  grantees,  and  the  title  of  Gorges  to 
Maine  was  confirmed  by  the  crown,  extending  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  inland, from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Sagadahoc.  “ Masonia”  or  New 
Hampshire,  fell  to  John  Mason  in  the  division.  The  company  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,  whose  charter  was  dated  March  19th,  1629,  subse- 


22 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


quently  set  up  a claim  to  a large  portion  of  Maine,  running  a line  due 
east  from  a point  three  miles  north  of  the  head  or  source  of  the  Merri- 
mac  River. 

By  a system  of  intimidation  at  one  time,  and  by  a course  of  cajolery 
at  another,  the  government  of  Maine  was  weakened,  so  that  during  the 
reign  of  the  Puritans,  in  the  times  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony  acquired  a show  of  submission  to  her  authority  from  the 
people  of  Maine.  But  being  finally  defeated  in  these  attempts  to  over- 
ride the  grant  of  August  10th,  1622,  to  Gorges  and  Mason,  they  pur- 
chased from  Gorges’  heirs  their  title  to  Maine  for  £1,250,  March  13th, 
1678.  On  the  vacation  of  Massachusetts  charter  on  quo  warranto , October 
13th,  1684,  her  title  to  Maine  was  relaxed;  but  the  charter  of  William 
and  Mary,  of  October  7th,  1691,  united  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  the  Colony  of  Plymouth,  “ the  Province  of  Maine,”  the  country  of 
Acadia,  and  all  the  territory  lying  between  Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia,  and 
Maine,  called  the  territory  of  Sagadahoc,  into  a single  government, 
called  “ the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,”  and  Sir  William  Phipps, 
a native  of  Maine,  was  appointed  governor. 

In  this  way,  Massachusetts  acquired  her  title  to  this  public  domain  of 
more  than  20,000,000  of  acres.  With  these  lands,  Massachusetts 
endowed  her  public  institutions,  and  from  the  sale  of  portions  of  them? 
amounting  to  millions  of  acres,  made  to  William  Bingham  and  others* 
she  realized  large  sums  of  money  to  her  treasury  towards  paying  off  the 
debt  of  the  Revolution. 

By  the  Act  of  separation — reluctantly  granted  in  the  year  1819 — the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  retained  one-half  of  the  unsold  lands 
lying  in  Maine,  amounting  at  that  time  to  11,824,438  acres.  Of  this 
amount,  3,207,680  acres  were  subsequently,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  sur- 
rendered up,  or  ceded  to  the  United  States  government  by  the  treaty  of 
Washington,  leaving  8,616,758  acres,  one-half  of  which,  4,388,379  acres, 
fell  to  Massachusetts.  This  land  was  to  be  exempt  from  taxation,  while 
the  title  remained  in  the  Commonwealth.  How  faithfully  Maine  vindi- 
cated this  principle  in  spite  of  all  the  evasions  of  the  right  of  taxation, 
the  judicial  records  of  our  State  will  show.  At  the  time  of  the  separa- 
tion the  lands  had  but  little  value  in  cash,  but  were  regarded  as  of  great 
importance  for  settling,  and  as  a means  of  increasing  the  wealth  and 
political  power  of  the  country.  Proposals  of  sale  were  interchanged. 
Massachusetts  would  have  transferred  her  interest  to  Maine  for  $150,000. 
Maine  offered  $100,000,  and  the  negotiations  were  dropped,  most  unfor- 
tunately for  Maine. 

Portions  of  the  lands  were  afterwards  divided  by  alternate  townships, 
and  up  to  1832,  Massachusetts  received  into  her  treasury  $122,465.94, 
as  proceeds  of  sales  of  lands  and  timber  in  Maine.  In  1832,  an 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


28 


agreement  of  the  land  agents  of  the  two  States  for  a system  of  manage- 
ment and  joint  sales,  was  assented  to  by  the  respective  legislatures,  and 
in  and  by  this  convention,  it  was  agreed  that  ten  per  cent,  of  the  gross 
proceeds  of  the  sales  should  be  expended  for  improvements  in  the  way 
of  roads,  bridges  and  rendering  water-courses  navigable  for  the  floating 
of  timber,  thereby  largely  enhancing  the  value  of  the  remaining  unsold 
lands.  From  1832  till  1852,  Massachusetts  paid  out  only  $69,939.49 
for  roads,  bridges  or  other  improvements,  while  she  received  $1,927,- 
719.54  as  the  proceeds  of  the  sales.  Maine  paid  out  from  1832  till 
1852,  $183,116.23  for  roads  and  bridges,  leaving  a deficit  due  from 
Massachusetts  of  $113,276.74,  assuming  that  the  gross  amount  of  sales 
by  the  two  States  was  equal.  In  1851,  Maine  became  aroused  and 
alarmed  at  the  course  pursued  by  Massachusetts  in  contravention  of  the 
principles  of  the  compact ; viz. : granting  licenses  to  cut  the  timber 
without  limit,  or  selling  the  timber  and  lumber  only,  retaining  the  title 
to  the  soil,  thereby  shutting  up  the  lands  from  settlement,  and  keeping 
them  from  taxation. 

Maine  remonstrated,  but  without  success,  and  saw  no  remedy  except 
that  of  a purchase  from  Massachusetts  of  all  her  remaining  interests  in 
the  public  lands.  On  October  5th  1853,  she  paid  in  cash  and  notes 
$362,500  for  the  remnants  and  residuary  interests  of  Massachusetts, 
that  State  having  first  sold  to  individuals, — pending  the  negotiations, — 
the  more  valuable  portions  of  the  timber  lands,  for  $283,696.19.  Of 
this  sum  $47,120  was  subsequently  remitted  by  the  legislature. 

Massachusetts  has  received  from  individual  purchases  the  sum  of 
$2,164,545.73  after  1832,  which  makes  a total  of  $2,532,246.90  of  net 
receipts  without  interest,  including  the  $200,000  now  due  from  Maine. 
In  addition  to  this  amount,  $150,000  was  paid  to  Massachusetts  by  the 
United  States  government  for  one-half  of  the  lands  taken  from  Maine, 
under  the  treaty  of  Washington,  showing  a total  of  $2,682,246.90 
received  by  Massachusetts  without  interest,  since  the  separation,  as  the 
proceeds  of  sales  of  land  in  Maine,  drawn  from  the  industry  of  Maine 
to  aid  the  school  fund  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  succor,  in  its  hours  of 
difficulty,  the  drooping  fortunes  of  the  Western  Railroad. 

No  adjustment  of  this  claim  for  deficiency  of  expenditure  for  roads, 
bridges  and  improvements  was  attempted  at  the  time  of  the  purchase, 
— so  anxious  was  Maine  to  arrest  these  unfriendly  proceedings,  and 
secure  complete  jurisdiction  and  control  of  the  lands  within  her  own 
territory.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  statement  of  facts  was  sufficient,  to 
insure  a concurrence  of  opinion,  that  Massachusetts  is  fairly  indebted  to 
Maine  in  the  sum  of  $146,515.08,  without  computing  interest  thereon  ; 
with  which,  it  would  largely  exceed  in  amount,  the  sum  now  due  by 
Maine  to  Massachusetts,  on  account  of  the  purchase. 


24  MEMORIAL.  [Jan. 

His  Excellency,  Governor  Cony,  in  his  recent  address  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  Maine,  in  allusion  to  this  matter,  says : — 

“ The  State  of  Maine  extinguished  the  title  of  Massachusetts  in  these 
lands  by  purchase  in  1853.  A bargain  fairly  made  is  binding  upon 
both  parties  and  not  to  be  complained  of ; but  if  the  State  of  Maine 
ever  receives  from  the  land  thus  purchased,  a sum  equal  to  the  interest 
of  the  principal  paid  for  them,  it  is  as  much  as  those  well  informed 
upon  the  subject  ever  expected.  These  considerations  may  be  fairly 
addressed  to  Massachusetts,  in  seeking  her  aid  for  this  enterprise,  and  it 
is  for  her  authorities  to  determine  their  weight.” 

The  enterprise  is  urged  upon  the  attention  of  the  authorities  and 
people  of  Massachusetts,  upon  the  broadest  grounds  of  public  policy,  as 
a means  of  increasing  the  material  strength,  the  political  influence,  and 
the  moral  power  of  New  England. 

The  New  England  of  the  olden  time,  as  mapped  out  by  the  sagacious 
Gorges,  in  1620,  and  described  in  the  charter  of  November  3d  of  that 
year,  granted  at  his  request,  (according  to  the  recital  of  the  instrument 
itself,)  included  the  broad  belt  of  eight  degrees  of  latitude,  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  seas ; embracing  one-half  of  what  is  now  New 
Jersey,  the  bulk  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  Northern 
Missouri,  Iowa,  and  the  basin  of  the  great  lakes,  and  a majority  of  the 
English-speaking  people  of  the  continent.  It  is  now  limited  to  less 
than  seven-fifteenths  of  the  Acadian  peninsula,  and  extends  westward 
only  to  the  valley  of  Lake  Champlain.  But  its  power  and  influence  are 
greatly  in  excess  of  its  territorial  proportions. 

And  we  recognize  the  duty — so  eloquently  set  forth  in  the  appeal  of 
His  Excellency,  Governor  Andrew,  to  the  New  England  Agricultural 
Society,  on  Hampden  Park,  September  9th,  1864 — to  the  sons  of  New 
England,  to  strengthen  and  adorn  it.  The  value  of  that  appeal  would 
have  been  more  striking  and  effective  had  he  pointed  out  to  them  the 
broad  valleys  of  the  Penobscot  and  St.  John,  as  portions  of  New  Eng- 
land, the  rich  soils  of  the  Aroostook  and  Mattawamkeag,  and  the  still 
untouched  forests  of  the  Allegash  as  the  most  inviting  fields  for  New 
England  thrift  and  industry.  Maine,  with  only  one-seventh  (J)  of  her 
territory  under  cultivation,  has  more  good  farming  lands  than  are  found 
within  the  other  five  States  of  New  England ; more  good  harbors  and 
more  available  water-power  than  any  other  section  of  the  country  of 
equal  extent ; obvious  at  once,  upon  an  examination  of  the  configuration 
of  its  territory,  its  physical  features,  its  geographical  position  and  its 
geological  structure,  occupying  as  it  does  the  southern  and  eastern  slopes 
of  the  Apalachian  chain,  known  as  the  Acadian  Mountains.  Their 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


25 


axial  ridge  forms  the  common  water-shed  of  the  Connecticut,  the 
Androscoggin,  the  Kennebec,  the  Penobscot,  the  St.  John,  the  Chaudiere 
and  the  St.  Francis, — all  take  their  rise  in  this  Alpine  region  and 
descend  from  an  elevation  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet,  over  a succession 
of  terraces,  which  forms  a series  of  cascades  in  almost  regular  gradation 
to  the  sea.  But  a small  portion  of  its  soil  is  granitic,  and  the  country- 
lying  north  and  east  of  Katahdin  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  raising 
of  wheat,  and  capable  of  supporting  a population  equal  to  that  of 
Vermont. 

Twenty  years  ago;  the  people  of  Massachusetts  distrusted  the  ability 
of  the  people  of  Maine  to  construct  a line  of  railway  from  the  open  har- 
bor of  Portland  to  the  boundary  of  Canada,  connecting  with  a line  from 
thence  to  Montreal.  Unaided  by  other  New  England  capital,  the  people 
of  Maine  persevered  in  their  efforts,  and  an  unbroken  line  of  railway, 
from  Lake  Huron  to  the  ocean,  discharges  its  freight,  without  tranship- 
ment, on  board  ocean  steamers  at  Portland.  A system  of  railways, 
embracing  a length  of  1,396  miles,  since  finished,  is  now  included  in. the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway  of  Canada,  with  scarcely  any  connection  with 
Boston,  or  other  portions  of  New  England,  outside  of  Maine. 

The  next  twenty  years  will  develop  a railway  system  in  Eastern 
Maine  and  the  lower  British  Provinces,  on  the  Provincial  gauge,  to  a 
still  greater  extent,  penetrating  the  coal-fields  of  Pictou,  and  of  Eastern 
Nova  Scotia.,  following  along  the  region  of  the  rich  fishing  grounds  on 
the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  to  the  Bay  of  Chaleur,  and  con- 
necting the  upper  and  lower  British  Provinces,  through  the  valley  of 
the  upper  St.  John,  developing  some  of  the  finest  portions  of  the  conti- 
nent of  North  America,  taking  into  view  their  material  attractions  and 
natural  resources. 

It  is  for  the  interest  of  Boston,  and  of  all  New  England,  to  dii’ectly 
participate  in  the  material  development  of  this  eastern  region,  so  natur- 
ally connected  with  it,  by  both  geographical  and  commercial  laws. 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Boston  Board  of  Trade,  it  was  confi- 
dently asserted  that  Boston  could  secure  western  connections  which 
should  restore  to  her  the  trade  which  had  been  diverted  into  other  chan- 
nels;, that  freight  cars,  reaching  Boston  from  “St.  Louis,  Chicago,  and 
other  parts  of  the  West,  without  breaking  bulk,”  should  supply  produce 
for  export.  On  the  contrary,  some  believe  that  beyond  the  local  supply 
which  the  Western  Railway  may  bring  to  the  doors  of  Massachusetts,  it 
is  impossible  to  lift  freight  over  the  Berkshire  hills,  and  bring  it  to  Bos- 
ton for  export  to  Europe.  It  will  follow  the  water-line  of  the  Hudson 
to  New  York,  or  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  its  nearest  shipping  port  in 
4 


MEMORIAL. 


26 


[Jan. 


winter,  Portland,  instead  of  scaling  the  ridges  that  separate  the  valley 
of  the  Hudson  from  the  waters  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  experience  of  the  last  few  years  has  shown  that  flour  and  western 
produce,  to  some  extent  already,  come  to  Boston  by  the  way  of  Port- 
land, and  that  Eastern  Maine  is  gradually  drawing  its  supplies  from  the 
West  by  the  same  route.  Flour  and  grain  were  at  one  time  exports 
from  Boston  to  Maine,  and  a change  has  been  effected,  by  the  comple- 
tion of  the  railway  from  Montreal  to  Portland,  and  from  thence  to  the 
Kennebec,  and  to  Bangor. 

But  Maine  is  only  partially  peopled.  For  nearly  one  hundred  years 
after  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  European  races,  it  was  the 
battle-ground  between  the  French  and  the  English,  and,  while  other 
portions  of  New  England  grew  in  wealth  and  population,  without  serious 
embarrassment,  from  1620  to  1762,  Maine  was  kept  back,  till  the  over- 
throw of  the  French  power,  by  the  conquest  of  Quebec  in  1759,  and  the 
treaty  of  peace  of  1763.  Maine,  too,  was  excluded  from  the  New 
England  League  of  1643,  formed  for  better  protection  against  savage 
invasion,  because  the  religion  of  the  mother  country  was  tolerated  there, 
by  Gorges,  as  well  as  the  religion  of  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and 
Massachusetts. 


If  Boston  “ possesses  the  wealth,  the  energy,  and  the  experience  to 
insure  for  itself  every  artificial  facility  which  its  commerce  may  require,” 
it  cannot  fail  to  see  that  it  must  look  east  as  well  as  west,  to  secure  that 
trade  which  is  to  give  u rapidity  to  its  growth.”  Build  up  Maine, 
increase  the  manufacturing  industry  of  the  Saco,  the  Androscoggin,  the 
Kennebec,  and  the  Penobscot,  and  the  business  of  Boston  will  grow 
with  their  growth. 

The  law  of  commercial  gravitation,  sweeps  the  trade  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley  to  New  York,  as  inevitably  as  the  same  law  of  trade  takes 
the  business  of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Piscataqua  past  Portsmouth  and 
Salem  to  Boston,  over  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad. 

An  able  report  to  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  in  April,  1852, 
(Senate  Doc.  No.  123,)  advising  the  grant  of  aid  to  the  European  and 
North  American  Railway,  says : — 


“ Boston  is  the  natural  market  of  the  peninsula  east  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain, between  the  River  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ; but  all 
that  portion  of  this  peninsula  which  lies  within  the  influence  of  New 
York  capital  is  sending  annually  more  and  rriore  of  its  business  to  that 
city.  The  State  of  Maine,  portions  of.  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont, 
the  lower  British  Provinces,  and  a part  of  Canada  East  will  always 
find  Boston  their  natural  market,  and  the  policy  of  Boston  will  be  most 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


27 


wisely  directed  to  aid  the  growth  of  business  and  population  in  the 
regions  above  referred  to,  in  preference  to  measures  calculated  to 
advance  the  growth  of  our  great  commercial  rival.  The  trade  of  Maine 
is  of  vast  importance  to  Massachusetts,  and  from  her  geographical  posi- 
tion, Maine  will  naturally  be  our  best  customer.  If  Boston  had  extended 
her  lines  of  railway  east  through  Maine  to  the  lower  British  Provinces, 
and  in  connection  therewith,  to  Montreal,  instead  of  expending  vast 
sums  in  building  rival  lines  across  the  Connecticut  River  to  Lake 
Champlain,  the  commercial  position  of  all  New  England  would  have 
been  materially  enhanced.  The  lines  of  railway  extending  from  Boston 
across  the  Connecticut,  since  the  completion  of  the  Western  Railroad,  are 
now  directing  from  Boston  to  New  York  as  much  business,  perhaps,  as 
we  have  gained  thereby,  whereas  an  extension  of  railways  into  Maine 
adds  directly  to  the  business  of  Boston,  without  encountering  the  compe- 
tition of  New  York.  The  true  policy  of  Massachusetts,  therefore,  will 
be  found  in  aiding  in  all  possible  ways  the  building  of  railways  east  of  it, 
and  increasing,  in  every  practicable  manner,  the  means  of  communication 
with  Maine  and  the  British  Provinces.” 

This  reasoning  satisfied  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  and  a Bill  grant- 
ing aid  to  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  to  the 
amount  of  $500,000,  passed  that  branch  of  the 'legislature,  after  full 
discussion,  but  failed  to  secure  the  concurrence  of  the  House.  The 
controversy,  growing  out  of  the  joint  ownership  of  the  public  lands, 
postponed,  for  the  time,  all  further  efforts  to  secure  aid  from  Massachu- 
setts. The  commercial  revulsion,  following  the  Crimean  war,  absorbed 
at  home  the  English  capital,  which  had  been  pledged  for  the  building  of 
the  road,  in  the  lower  Provinces.  The  more  recent  movements 
towards  constructing  the  line  in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  have 
been  dependent  upon  the  credit  and  means  of  the  Provinces.  Within 
the  last  ten  years  Boston  has  witnessed  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  the 
trade  of  Maine,  and  the  growth  of  a commercial  town  at  the  east.  The 
valuation  of  Portland  has  increased  from  $4,634,738  in  1845,  to 
$26,963,939  in  1864.  Her  exports  to  foreign  countries  from  $251,097 
in  1845,  to  $4,396,142  in  1864;  her  imports,  from  $339,791  in  1845, 
to  $13,039,749  in  1864,  including  goods  passing  into  Canada  and  the 
lower  Provinces  in  bond,  showing  not  only  a growth  of  business,  but  an 
increase  of  wealth,  unexampled  in  any  other  city  of  New  England 
during  the  same  period. 

Draw  a line  from  Boston  to  the  St.  Lawrence  at  Montreal,  or  from 
Boston  to  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  thence  to  the  foot  of  Lake 


28 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


Ontario,  and,  north  and  east  of  this  line,  will  be  included  all  the  territory 
whose  business  naturally  gravitates  to  Boston.  Of  this  region,  the 
territory  of  Maine,  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince  Edward’s 
- Island,  is  by  far  the  most  valuable  in  natural  resources.  And  from  their 
geographical  position,  sloping  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  their  business 
relations,  like  those  of  New  Hampshire  and  Northern  Vermont  are  most 
intimately  connected  with  those  of  Boston. 

Maine  has  a territory  of  31,766  square  miles  ; New  Brunswick  has 
27,704 ; Nova  Scotia  has  18,746 ; Prince  Edward’s  Island  has  2,134;  a 
total  of  80,350  square  miles, — but  little  less  than  that  of  the  island  of 
Great  Britain,  and  fully  equal  to  it  in  natural  resources.  The  popula- 
tion of  Maine,  in  1860  was  628,600 ; that  of  New  Brunswick,  in  1861, 
was  252,047  ; that  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  1861,  was  330,699  ; that  of 
Prince  Edward’s  Island,  in  1861,  was  80,648 — a total  of  1,291,994; 
while  the  population  of  Great  Britain,  in  1861,  was  20,223,746.  It  is 
in  the  direction,  therefore,  of  this  eastern  empire,  that  the  surplus  capital 
of  New  England  should  be  directed.  If  the  capital  of  Boston,  now 
lying  idle  for  want  of  opportunities  for  investment,  was  employed  in  the. 
construction  of  lines  of  railway  to  the  coal  mines,  the  slate  quarries,  the 
iron  works,  the  timber  forests,  and  the  tanneries  of  Eastern  Maine,  and 
the  lower  Provinces,  a new  impulse  would  be  given  to  every  interest  of 
New  England;  and  the  growth  of  manufactures  upon  these  eastern 
waters,  would  make  their  valleys  as  populous  as  those  of  the  Connecticut 
or  the  Merrimac,  whose  trade  and  business  would  flow  backward  to  their 
source,  as  naturally  as  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  after  being  transported 
by  the  law  of  attraction  to  the  distant  mountain  summits,  and  fertilizing 
the  regions  upon  which  they  fall,  are  gathered  into  streams  in  the 
valleys  through  which  they  again  return  to  it. 

The  same  law  of  attraction  that  holds  together  the  people  who  dwell 
in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  or  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  unites 
those  who  inhabit  the  shores  of  the  sea  from  Cape  Cod  to  Cape  Sable. 
Separated  from  Canada  by  the  almost  inaccessible  ridges  that  divide 
them,  the  outlet  by  railway  from  Montreal  to  Portland,  affords,  to 
Canada  in  winter,  all  the  access  to  the  open  sea  that  the  business  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  Valley  at  this  time  demands. 

The  people  of  the  lower  British  Provinces,  like  those  of  Maine,  are 
lumbermen,  and  builders  and  owners  of  ships ; their  tastes,  habits  and 
pursuits  are  similar.  In  1860,  Maine  built  57,866  tons  of  ships,  and 
her  people  at  that  time  were  the  owners  of  801,941  tons  of  shipping. 
In  1861,  New  Brunswick  built  48,719  tons  of  ships.  In  1861,  Nova 
Scotia  built  39,383  tons,  and  Prince  Edward’s  Island  9,006  tons.  The 
tonnage  owned  in  .New  Brunswick  in  that  year  was  227,718  tons,  in 


1866.] 


SENATE — No.  9. 


29 


Nova  Scotia  248,061  tons,  in  Prince  Edward’s  Island  45,000  tons.  As  a 
grazing  country  it  is  unsurpassed ; its  uniform  supply  of  moisture  gives 
facilities  for  the  growth  of  hay,  and  the  rearing  of  cattle  and  sheep, 
beyond  any  other  section  of  the  country ; and  the  wool  crop,  in  the 
new  era  that  awaits  manufacturing  industry,  shall,  in  a few  years, 
contest  the  dominion  of  king  cotton. 

By  introducing  manufactures  and  diversifying  the  industry  of  this 
eastern  region,  so  full  of  raw  material  and  natural  resources ; by 
drawing  fresh  treasures  from  the  forest,  the  farm,  the  mine  and  the 
sea,  would  be  brought  about  the  steady  increase  of  its  wealth,  material 
power  and  population,  so  that  instead  of  1,291,944  persons  in  Maine 
and  these  three  maritime  Provinces,  there  would  be  a population  equal 
to  that  of  Massachusetts  per  square  mile,  within  the  next  half  century, 
and  12,614,950  persons  would  bring  their  trade  thence  to  your  doors. 
New  England,  in  this  way,  will  become  a power  in  the  land,  and  that 
energy  of  character  which  its  bracing  climate,  its  rugged  seacoast,  and 
the  grandeur  of  its  natural  scenery  imparls  to  man,  shall  quicken 
ingenuity,  enlarge  the  objects  of  human  pursuit,  multiply  works  of  art, 
and  extend  the  boundaries  of  commerce,  bringing  in  their  train  a 
corresponding  civilization,  that  shall  make  the  dwellers  upon  this  New 
England  seacoast  of  ours  the  foremost  people  of  the  earth  in  every- 
thing that  contributes  to  the  highest  welfare  of  the  individual,  and  to 
the  strength,  the  power,  and  the  glory  of  a State. 

The  Act  of  the  legislature  of  Maine,  approved  Iflarch  24th,  1864, 
and  to  which  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  Maine,  refers,  provides, 
“in  case  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  shall  assign  and  transfer 
to  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  or  to  the 
State  of  Maine,  in  trust  for  said  Company,  the  claims  held  by  her  with 
Maine,  against  the  general  government,”  “and  release  and  discharge  the 
balance  due  from  the  State  of  Maine,  for  the  purchase  of  her  interests 
in  the  public  lands  lying  in  Maine,”  “it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  governor, 
State  treasurer  and  land  agent  to  transfer  to  said  company  all  the 
public  lands  lying  on  the  waters  of  the  Penobscot  and  St.  John  Rivers, 
for  the  uses  and  purposes  set  forth  in  this  Act.” 

We  therefore  respectfully  ask  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  to 
assign  to  said  railway  company,  its  claims  against  the  United  States 
government,  held  jointly  with  Maine,  release  and  discharge  the  State  of 
Maine  from  its  certificates  of  indebtedness  due  for  said  purchase  of  said 
lands,  and  to  grant  a loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State,  to  the  amount  of 
$500,000,  to  aid  the  construction  of  said  railway,  and  to  render  such 
other  and  further  aid,  assistance  and  encouragement  thereto,  as  the 


MEMORIAL. 


30 


[Jan. 


legislature  in  its  wisdom  may  deem  prudent  and  necessary,  in  view  of 
the  importance  of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway. 

By  order  of  the  Directors. 

JOHN  A.  POOR, 

President  of  the  European  and  N.  American  Railway  Company . 
Boston,  January  17,  1865. 


COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

House  of  Representatives,  May  4,  1865. 
The  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
Memorial  of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company, 
for  aid  toward  completing  the  chain  of  railway  from  Boston  to 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia;  the  Memorial  of  the  Boston  Board  of  Trade; 
and  the  Petition  of  F.  W.  Lincoln  and  others,  merchants,  bankers 
and  business  men  of  Boston,  in  aid  of  the  same ; and  also  the  Message 
of  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  enclosing  a communication  from 
the  Governor  of  Maine,  with  a copy  of  an  Act  of  the  legislature  of 
Maine,  repealing  “an  Act  to  promote  safety  of  travel  on  railroads,” — 

REPORT. 

The  importance  of  an  unbroken  line  of  railroad  communication  from 
Boston,  passing  through  the  States  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and 
the  British  Provinces  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  to  Halifax, 
the  nearest  convenient  port  to  the  eastern  hemisphere,  is  obvious. 

From  the  Memorial  of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway 
Company,  it  appears  that  the  distance  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  by  the 
proposed  route,  is  706  miles.  Of  this  distance,  248  miles,  from  Boston 
to  Bangor,  is  traversed  by  railroads  in  operation.  From  Bangor  to  the 
line  of  New  Brunswick,  the  distance  is  108  miles.  From  thence  to  the 
city  of  St.  John,  in  New  Brunswick,  the  distance  is  88  miles,  making 
196  miles  of  the  proposed  line,  between  Bangor  and  St.  John, 
uncompleted. 

From  St.  John  to  Halifax,  the  distance  is  262  miles.  On  this  portion 
of  the  line  162  miles  of  the  railroad  are  constructed — 101  miles  running 
eastward  from  St.  John  towards  Halifax,  and  61  miles  running  west- 
ward from  Halifax  to  Truro — leaving  100  miles  of  the  distance  between 
St.  John  and  Halifax  to  be  built,  and  a total  of  296  miles  unconstructed 
between  Bangor  and  Halifax. 

Of  these  uncompleted  portions,  108  miles  are  in  Maine,  and  188 
miles  are  in  the  British  Provinces — 119  miles  being  in  New  Brunswick 
and  69  miles  in  Nova  Scotia. 


1866.] 


SENATE — No.  9. 


81 


There  are  between  Boston  and  Halifax,  now  constructed,  . 410  miles. 

“ “ “ “ “ “ not  constructed,  . 296  miles. 

Total, 706  miles. 

The  unconstructed  portions  in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  have 
been  chartered,  and  liberal  grants  of  pecuniary  aid  by  the  governments 
of  those  Provinces  having  been  authorized,  there  is  a favorable  prospect 
for  their  speedy  completion,  so  as  to  form  a continuous  line  of  railroads 
from  Halifax  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  Maine. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  exists  under 
a charter  from  the  legislature  of  Maine,  with  authority  to  construct  the 
portion  of  the  railroad  between  Bangor  and  the  New  Brunswick  line, 
there  to  connect  with  the  railroad  running  thence  to  St.  Jbhn  and 
Halifax. 

The  route  in  Maine  is  through  a region  which,  though  rich  in  unde- 
veloped mineral,  manufacturing  and  agricultural  resources,  cannot  fur- 
nish the  present  means  for  constructing  the  railroad.  It  must  therefore 
be  built  principally  with  means  obtained  elsewhere.  The  chief  reliance 
is  upon  the  governments  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  States  of 
Maine  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  city  of  Bangor. 

Aid  has  been  asked  of  Congress  upon  the  ground  that  the  proposed 
railroad  will  be  available  as  a military  road,  and  as* an  effectual  means 
of  defence  of  the  north-eastern  frontier,  by  rapid  transportation  of  troops 
and  munitions  of  war.  A special  committee  of  the  last  Congress 
reported  in  favor  of  a grant  in  aid  of  the  railroad,  and  it  is  expected 
that  the  measure  will  pass  the  next  Congress. 

The  city  of  Bangor,  under  authority  of  the  legislature  of  Maine,  has 
voted  to  loan  the  company  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  legislature  of  Maine  has  made  valuable  grants  in  aid  of  the  rail- 
road, of  timber  and  lands,  and  of  sundry  claims  upon  the  United  States, 
some  of  which  are  subject  to  conditions  dependent  upon  the  action  of 
Massachusetts. 

The  question  for  the  legislature  to  pass  upon  is,  whether  Massachu- 
setts will  lend  her  aid  to  this  important  enterprise. 

. In  coming  to  a decision,  there  should  be  considered  the  friendly  rela- 
tions existing  between  Maine  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  community  of 
interest  which  they  have  in  promoting  their  mutual  prosperity  and 
influence ; the  value  of  the  trade  which  the  construction  of  this  great 
line  of  railroad  will  bring  to  Massachusetts  from  the  British  Provinces 
and  the  eastern  section  of  Maine  ; and  the  important  increase  of  busi- 
ness to  nearly  all  the  railroads  of  Massachusetts,  sure  to  result  from  the 
establishment  of  a railroad  route  to  the  port  of  departure  nearest  to 


32 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


Europe,  inevitably  drawing  travel  from  all  sections  of  the  country,  which 
for  the  most  part  will,  on  its  way,  pass  over  the  Massachusetts  railroads. 

The  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  interests  and  welfare  of 
Massachusetts  will  be  sufficiently  promoted  by.  the  completion  of  this 
important  line  of  railroad  communication,  to  warrant  the  legislature  in 
promptly  aiding  the  speedy  construction  of  that  portion  of  the  railroad  in 
the  State  of  Maine. 

The  company  ask  for  an  assignment  for  their  benefit  of  the  claim 
yvhich  Massachusetts  has  jointly  with  Maine  upon  the  United  States,  for 
interest  on  the  debt  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  release  of  the  balance  of 
the  indebtedness  of  Maine  to  Massachusetts,  on  account  of  the  public 
lands  sold  to  Maine  in  1853,  amounting  to  about  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  also  a loan  of  the  credit  of  the  Commonwealth  for  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  assignment  of  the  claims  upon  the  United  Spates,  and  the  release 
of  the  indebtedness  of  Maine,  are  conditions  upon  which  Maine  has 
granted  her  unsold  public  lands  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  railroad. 

The  claim  for  interest  on  the  old  war  debt  can  be  made  available  by 
the  company  in  negotiating  with  the  United  States  for  an  appropriation 
for  the  railroad,  and  the  Committee  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend  that  it 
be  assigned  to  aid  its  construction. 

The  bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine,  given  in  payment  for  the  public 
lands,  have  been  added  to  the  school  fund,  and  the  proposition  to  with- 
draw them  cannot  be  entertained. 

Therefore,  the  Committee  recommend  such  legislation  as  will  enable 
the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  to  secure  the 
land-grant  of  Maine  by  taking  an  assignment  of  the  obligations  of  Maine 
to  Massachusetts  upon  the  payment  of  the  amount  remaining  unpaid  ; 
and  they  also  recommend  a loan  of  the  credit  of  the  Commonwealth  to 
aid  in  the  construction  of  the  railroad,  with  such  security  as  will  effectu- 
ally protect  the  Commonwealth  from  any  possible  loss. 

For  these  purposes,  they  unanimously  report  the  accompanying  Bill. 

For  the  Committee^ 


JAMES  M.  STONE. 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


38 


[C.] 


To  His  Excellency,  John  A.  Andrew , Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of 

Massachusetts , and  to  the  Honorable  Council. 

The  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  of  Maine,  a 
corporation  established  by  the  laws  of  said  State,  respectfully  represents, 
that  the  legislature  of  said  State  of  Maine,  by  an  Act  approved  March 
25th,  1864,  entitled  “ An  Act  to  provide  means  for  the  defence  of  the 
North-Eastern  Frontier,”  assigned  all  its  claims  against  the  United 
States  Government  which  accrued  prior  to  1860,  and  the  timber  on  ten 
townships  of  its  public  lands,  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  main  line 
and  branches  of  their  said  railway,  as  provided  in  and  by  said  Act. 

And  it  was  further  provided,  in  and  by  the  Act  aforesaid,  that  in  case 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  should  assign  and  transfer  to  said 
railway  company,  or  to  the  State  of  Maine,  in  trust  for  said  company, 
to  aid  the  construction  of  said  railway,  its  claims  against  the  general 
government,  held  jointly  with  Maine,  and  further  release  and  discharge 
the  balance  of  its  debt  against  the  State  of  Maine,  created  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  for  the  purchase  of  the  lands  of  Massachusetts,  lying 
in  Maine,  under  date  of  October  fifth,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-three ; 
— then,  and  in  that  case,  the  governor,  State  treasurer,  and  land  agent 
of  Maine  were  authorized  to  convey  to  said  railway  company,  all  the 
unappropriated  public  lands  lying  on  the  waters  of  the  Penobscot  and 
Saint  John  Rivers,  to  aid  the  construction  of  said  railway. 

And  said  railway  company  further  shows,  that  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  by  an  Act  approved  May  16th,  1865,  entitled,  “An  Act 
to  aid  the  construction  of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway,” 
did  transfer  to  the  State  of  Maine,  in  trust  for  said  company,  its  claims 
against  the  United  States*  held  jointly  with  Maine,  and  did  further 
authorize  an  assignment  of  the  debt  of  the  State  of  Maine,  as  aforesaid, 
or  a surrender  thereof,  on  the  payment  of  the  amount  thereof,  and 
interest,  notwithstanding  that  the  same  had  not  matured,  or  become 
payable. 

And  the  said  railway  company  further  shows,  that  the  said  bonds, 
of  said  State  of  Maine,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  are  payable  in  annual  instalments  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  each,  with  interest  at  the  rate,  of  only  five  per  cent,  per  annum, — 

5 


MEMORIAL. 


84 


[Jan. 


and  the  same  are  now  a portion  of  the  permanent  school  fund  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

Now,  therefore,  the  said  railway  company  respectfully  inform  the 
governor  and  council  that  it  is  now  ready  to  pay  to  said  Common- 
wealth the  amount  due  to  it  by  the  said  State  of  Maine,  and  take  a 
release  or  transfer  thereof,  as  is  provided  by  law. 

And  the  said  railway  company  further  informs  the  governor  and 
council  of  Massachusetts,  that  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  Maine  are 
now  prepared  to  execute  said  conveyance,  transferring  to  said  railway 
company  the  public  lands  lying  on  the  waters  of  the  Penobscot  and 
Saint  John  Rivers,  amounting  by  estimation  to  several  hundred  thousand 
acres,  and  of  great  value,  being  principally  covered  with  rich  forests  of 
timber. 

And  said  railway  company  further  informs  the  governor  and  council 
of  Massachusetts,  that  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  European  and 
North  American  Railway,  and  to  provide  funds  for  the  completion  of 
the  railroad  between  Bangor  and  New  Brunswick,  this  company  has 
issued  bonds  to  the  amount  of  one  million  of  dollars,  payable  in  thirty 
years,  with  interest  semi-annually,  at  six  per  cent.,  secured  by  a mort- 
gage of  the  whole  line  of  railroad  from  Bangor  to  the  New  Brunswick 
line,  said  mortgage  being  a first  mortgage  on  same  excepting  the  lien  of 
the  city  of  Bangor,  upon  the  road  from  Bangor  to  Lincoln,- — said  bonds 
of  one  million  of  dollars  being  secured  by  a first  and  only  lien  upon  the 
timber  and  lands  to  be  conveyed  to  the  said  company  by  the  State  of 
Maine,  as  contemplated  by  the  Act  aforesaid,  and  as  provided  by  the 
Act  of  the  legislature  of  Maine,  approved  March  24th,  1864,  entitled, 
“An  Act  to  provide  for  the  defence  of  the  North-Eastern  Frontier.” 

Now,  therefore,  to  aid  the  objects  and  purposes  in  said  Act  contem- 
plated, and  for  the  purpose  of  advantageously  investing  the  said  sum  of 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  interest,  paid  to  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts  in  discharge  of  said  five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  State 
of  Maine,  as  aforesaid,  the  said  railway  company  asks  , the  governor 
and  council  to  purchase  an  equal  amount  in  the  six  per  cent,  land 
bonds  of  this  company,  part  of  the  million  loan  secured  by  the  said 
mortgage  of  said  railway,  and  the  said  lands  as  additional  security 
therefor. 

By  order  of  the  Directors. 

THE  EUROPEAN  AND  NORTH  AMERICAN  RAILWAY 
COMPANY  OF  MAINE, 

By  John  A.  Poor,  President. 


Bangor,  July  20th,  1865. 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


85 


Council  Chamber,  August  1st.,  1865. 
Messrs.  Poor,  Williams,  and  Millet,  were  appointed  a Committee  to 
examine  and  report  upon  the  application  of  the  European  and  North 
American  Railway  Company. 

Secretary’s  Dept.,  Boston,] 
December  18th,  1865.  ) 

A . true  copy  from  the  Council  Records,  of  the  date  first  above 
written. 

OLIVER  WARNER,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 


COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 

Council  Chamber,  Boston. 

The  Committee  of  the  Council  to  whom  was  referred  the  application 
of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  of  Maine, 
praying  for  an  assignment  to  said  company  of  the  bonds  of  the  State  of 
Maine,  dated  October  5th  1853,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  in  pursuance  of  the  authority  of  an  Act  of  the  general 
court,  approved  May  16th,  1865,  entitled,  “An  Act  to  aid  the  construc- 
tion of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway,”  with  a further 
request,  to  invest  the  amount  to  be  paid  by  said  company  for  said  assign- 
ment, in  the  six  per  cent,  land  bonds,  of  said  railway  company ; said 
State  of  Maine  bonds,  being  held  as  a portion  of  the  school  fund  of  the 
Commonwealth ; having  considered  the  same,  ask  leave  to 

REPORT: 

By  an  Act  of  the  legislature,  approved  May  16th,  1865,  entitled 
“ An  Act  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  European  and  North  American 
Railway,”  it  was  provided,  that,  whenever  the  amount  remaining  unpaid 
and  the  interest  thereon,  of  the  bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine,  given  in 
payment  for  the  public  lands  in  Maine,  sold  by  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-three,  shall  be 
paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  treasurer  and  receiv- 
er-general, shall,  under  the  direction  of  the  governor  and  council,  sur- 
render said  bonds  to  the  State  of  Maine,  or  assign  them  to  the  Euro- 
pean and  North  American  Railway  Company,  as  the  governor  and 
council  may  determine. 

The  said  railway  company  now  declare,  in  their  memorial,  that  they 
are  ready  to  pay  into  the  treasury  the  amount  as  provided  in  said  Act, 
and  they  ask  that  on  payment  by  them  of  the  aforesaid  amount,  said 
bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine  may  be  transferred  to  them,  in  accordance 


36 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


with  the  provisions  of  said  Act.  To  this  the  Committee  see  no  objection, 
and  they  would  accordingly  recommend  the  passage  of  an  Order  ir^struct- 
hig  the  treasurer  and  receiver-general  to  transfer  to  said  railway  com- 
pany the  said  bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine,  whenever  full  payment  of 
the  same  with  interest  is  made. 

The  company  further  petitions,  that  the  amount  thus  paid  into  the 
treasury  may  be  invested,  by  direction  of  the  governor  and  council,  in 
the  six  per  cent,  land  bonds  of  said  company,  now  about  to  be  issued. 
In  relation  to  this  branch  of  the  petition,  your  Committee  find  in  the 
Acts  and  Resolves  of  1862,  chapter  187,  it  is  provided  as  follows  : “All 
moneys  belonging  to  the  funds  over  which  the  Commonwealth  has 
exclusive  control,  shall  hereafter  be  invested  in  securities  of  said  Com- 
monwealth, or  in  the  notes  and  bonds  of  the  several  counties,  cities  and 
towns  thereof,  or  in  the  scrip  or  bonds  of  the  several  New  England 
States,  of  the  State  of  New  York  or  of  the  United  States.”  This  limi- 
tation of  law  precludes  the  governor  and  council  from  making  any  invest- 
ments in  the  manner  petitioned  for,  however  desirable  they  might  deem 
it  to  be,  and  under  the  limitation  of  this  Act,  the  legislature  alone  has 
the  power  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  petition. 

In  the  examination  of  the  statement  of  facts,  and  arguments,  pre- 
sented by  the  petitioners  in  this  case,  which  are  hereunto  appended  as 
part  of  this  report,  your  Committee  have  been  deeply  impressed  with 
the  great  importance  of  this  enterprise,  not  only  as  a measure  of  military 
defence  on  the  frontier,  but  as  a great  channel  of  communication 
between  the  New  England  States  and  the  Provinces  of  New  Brunswick 
and  Nova  Scotia.  This  line,  when  completed,  will  establish  a chain  of 
railway  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  being  over  seven  hundred  miles  in 
length  ; bringing  within  easy  reach  of  our  metropolis,  the  immense  forests 
of  Maine,  and  the  mines  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia.  The 
resources  of  a large  part  of  the  territory  traversed  by  this  projected  line 
of  railway,  have  hitherto  remained  undeveloped,  on  account  of  the 
restricted  means  of  communication,  and  as  the  population  is  sparse  and 
their  means  limited,  it  has  been  necessary  to  appeal  for  aid  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  road  to  those  commercial  centres,  which  are  to  be 
largely  benefited  thereby.  Relying  upon  the-  enterprise  and  liberality 
of  Massachusetts,  and  the  great  advantages  which  will  be  secured  to 
her  by  the  construction  of  this  line  of  road,  the  company  appealed  to 
her  for  aid,  and  in  response  the  legislature  of  this  year,  passed  an  Act 
in  aid  of  the  road,  which,  while  it  did  not  grant  all  that  was  desired, 
gave  the  full  endorsement  of  the  Commonwealth  to  the  enterprise. 
Your  Committee,  while  they  cannot  recommend  the  granting  of  the 
petition  of  the  company,  so  far  as  regards  the  investment  of  money  in 
their  bonds,  are  so  strongly  impressed  with  the  advantages  which  will 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


8T 


accrue  to  Massachusetts  in  the  building  of  this  road,  that  they  cannot 
forbear  expressing  the  hope  that  Massachusetts  will  still  further  extend 
toward  it  her  fostering  hand,  and  they  cordially  commend  it  to  the  care- 
ful consideration  of  her  executive  and  legislative  departments.  In 
accordance  with  the  above  the  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following  Order : 

EBEN  S.  POOR. 
HARTLY  WILLIAMS. 

ASA  MILLET. 

Ordered , That  the  treasurer  and  receiver-general  be  instructed  to 
assign  .to  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company,  the 
bonds  of  the  State  of  Maine,  now  unpaid,  which  are  held  by  the  Com- 
monwealth, for  lands  sold  to  the  State  of  Maine,  in  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  fifty-three,  whenever  the  said  railway  company  shall  pay 
into  th^  treasury  the  amount  of  said  bonds  with  interest  thereon. 

Order  adopted  December  13th,  1865. 

OLIVER  WARNER,  Secretary. 


STATEMENT  OF  FACTS, 

Submitted  by  the  European  and  North  American  Railway  Company  of 
Maine , to  the  Committee  of  the  Council  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts , in  support  of  their  application  of  July  29th,  1865. 

The  charter,  by-laws,  and  other  papers  of  the  European  and  North 
American  Railroad  Company,  showing  its  legal  organization,  have  been 
submitted  to  the  law  officer  of  the  State  of  Maine  ; and  his  certificate 
shows  that  said  railway  company  has  a legal  existence,  with  ample 
chartered  powers  to  construct  and  maintain  a line  of  railway,  from  the 
city  of  Bangor  to  the  boundary  of  Maine,  in  the  direction  of  the  city  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  with  the  right  to  purchase  the  entire  chain 
of  railroads  between  Halifax  and  Portland  ; to  construct  various 
branches,  add  a branch  line  from  their  main  line  to  the  St.  John  River 
at  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  the  United  States. 

The  said  railway  company,  in  addition  to  these  ample  chartered 
rights,  has  acquired  the  road-bed,  right  of  way,  and  all  the  property  of 
the  Penobscot  Railroad  Company,  extending  from  Bangor  to  Milford,  a 
distance  of  13.60  miles — on  which  line  the  sum  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  thousand  dollars  ($328,000)  had  been  expended  prior  to 
1860  ; it  has  also  the  rights  and  property,  road-bed  and  right  of  way,  of 
the  Oldtown  and  Lincoln  Railroad  Company,  extending  from  Milford 


38 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 


to  Lincoln,  a distance  of  thirty-two  miles,  on  which  line  from  Milford  to 
Lincoln  there  had  been  expended  a large  amount  prior  to  1860,  esti- 
mated at  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($50,000.)  Copies  of  the 
conveyances  from  these  corporations  to  the  European  and  North  Ameri- 
can Railway  Company,  are  submitted  as  evidence  among  the  other 
papers  in  the  case. 

It  appears,  also,  that  authority  for  these  purchases  had  been  granted 
by  the  legislature  of  Maine.  The  city  of  Bangor,  also,  in  1864, 
granted  a loan  of  its  credit  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, ($500,000,)  to  aid  the  construction  of  this  railway,  taking  a first 
lien  on  the  road  to  Lincoln  only,  as  its  security,  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  an  Act  to  this  effect  of  the  Legislature  of  Maine. 

The  State  of  Maine,  by  the  Act  approved  March  24th,  1864,  donated 
to  this  company  all  its  claims  on  the  general  government,  which 
accrued  prior  to  1860,  in  payment  of  which  an  able  committee  of  Con- 
gress has  twice  reported  a Bill  granting  ten  thousand  dollars  ($10,000,) 
per  mile,  to  aid  the  construction  of  this  railroad,  not  to  exceed  two 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  in  all  of  main  line  and  branches. 

The  State  of  Maine,  by  the  Act  aforesaid,  further  granted  the  timber 
on  ten  townships  of  its  public  lands,  to  aid  the  construction  of  said  road ; 
and  further  granted  all  its  public  lands  on  the  waters  of  the  Penobscot 
and  St.  John  Rivers,  amounting  to  794,300  acres  for  the  main  line,  in 
case  this  Commonwealth  should  grant  its  claims  held  jointly  with  Maine 
against  the  general  government,  to  aid  its  construction,  and  discharge 
the  debt  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  ($200,000,)  due  from  the 
State  of  Maine  on  account  of  the  land  purchase  of  1853,  and  78,000 
acres  applicable  to  the  Piscataqua  branch  to  the  Brownsville  slate 
quarries. 

These  liberal  grants  on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Maine,  established 
confidence  in  the  enterprise.  The  committee  of  the  legislature  of 
Maine  in  reporting  the  Act  in  question,  said  : “ This  line  of  railway  is 
the  greatest  possible  enterprise  for  Maine.  It  will  commercially  unite 
the  lower  Provinces  with  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  attract 
across  the  breadth  of  our  great  State  that  stream  of  European  travel 
and  traffic  that,  once  set  in  motion,  shall  forever  increase  in  volume  and 
value.” 

In  another  portion  of  their  report,  this  committee  say  : “ Maine  must 
herself  be  ready  to  do  all  that  is  possible  towards  securing  such  a 
result.”  “We  recommend  the  grant  of  all  the  aid  the  State  can  rea- 
sonably apply  to  this  object.” 

The  legislature  of  Maine  regarded  the  debt  due  to  Massachusetts  in 
the  nature  of  an  equitable  lien,  or  mortgage,  on  the  public  domain,  and 
granted  all  her  interests  in  the  public  lands,  and  her  claims  against  the 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


89 


United  States,  on  condition  of  a discharge  by  the  railway  company  of 
this  debt.  These  various  grants  are  estimated  at  over  three  million 
dollars,  ($3,000,000,)  in  value  by  the  company,  to  be  applied  to  the 
building  of  the  road  and  its  branch  lines. 

The  legislature  of  Maine  of  1864,  made  an  earnest  appeal  to  the 
general  court  of  the  Commonwealth,  for  aid  to  said  enterprise,  for 
reasons  set  forth  in  their  Resolutions. 

The  Act  of  the  legislature  of  May  16th,  1865,  to  aid  the  construc- 
tion of  the  European  and  North  American  Railway,  is  the  response  of 
Massachusetts  to  that  appeal — an  unconditional  grant  of  all  her  inter- 
est in  these  joint  claims  on  the  United  States.  Congress  will,  no  doubt, 
increase  its  grant  to  this  railway  company,  in  consideration  of  the 
grant  to  it  from  the  Commonwealth. 

Since  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  May  16th,  1865,  the  railway  com- 
pany has  proceeded  with  energy  in  its  work,  entered  into  contract  under 
date  of  June  21st,  1865,  with  the  railway  company  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, authorized  to  extend  its  line  from  the  city  of  St.  John  westward 
to  the  boundary  of  Maine  ; for  the  building  of  the  line  from  Bangor  to 
St.  John  as  one  enterprise,  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  two  companies— 
the  means,  it  is  understood,  are  provided  for  the  completion  of  the  line 
from  the  city  of  St.  John  to  the  boundary  of  Maine — a distance  of 
eighty-six  miles.  A copy  of  this  agreement  of  union  is  submitted,  to  be 
placed  on  file  as  a portion  of  the  evidence  in  this  case. 

All  the  railroads,  from  Bangor  westward  to  Boston  and  New  York, 
and  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  of  Canada,  are  interested  in  the  comple- 
tion of  this  line  from  Bangor  to  St.  John. 

The  means  already  secured  for  the  construction  of  this  line  in  Maine, 
amounting  to  one  hundred  and  eight  miles,  are  as  follows : — 


Work  expended  $378,000,  costing  the  company  only  . 
Stock  to  be  raised  in  Maine,  . . . . . 

Bangor  loan,  ........ 

Land  bonds, $1,000,000  00 

Less  Massachusetts  debt,  . . . 200,000  00 

United  States  Guarantee  bonds,  . . . . . 

Massachusetts  claims  on  United  States  Government, 


$200,000  00 
500,000  00 
500,000  00 


800,000  00 

1,080,000  00 


The  necessary  legal  steps  have  been  taken,  and  votes  have  been 
passed  to  perfect  the  several  mortgage  securities.  It  is  proposed  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  three  trustees,  viz. : — Franklin  Haven,  Hannibal 
Hamlin,  and  Henry  Y.  Poor — the  entire  body  of  lands  conveyed  to  the 
company  by  the  State  of  Maine,  as  additional  collateral  security,  for 


40 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan. 

the  payment  of  the  interest  and  the  redemption  of  the  principal  of  this 
one  million  dollars,  ($1,000,000,)  of  land  bonds,  which  are  also  secured 
by  a first  mortgage  on  the  entire  line  of  the  railway  from  Bangor  to 
the  boundary  of  New  Brunswick,  save  only  the  prior  lien  of  the  City 
of  Bangor  on  the  road  from  Bangor  to  Lincoln,  45.60  miles. 

The  second  mortgage  of  the  main  line  and  its  several  branches  for  the 
sum  of  two  million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  ($2,300,000,)  is 
designed  to  represent  the  amount  proposed  by  the  House  Committee  of 
Congress,  to  be  paid  to  the  railway  company  as  the  assignee  of  the 
State  of  Maine  toward  aiding  the  construction  of  the  railroad.  By  the 
payment  of  this  debt  of  Maine,  the  United  States  is  enabled  to  aid  and 
secure  probably  thereby  the  most  important  military  work  of  the  coun- 
try, without  encountering  any  of  the  constitutional  objections  that  arise 
to  the  grant  of  aid  to  railways  directly  by  the  general  government. 
By  this  prudential  and  precautionary  step — placing  the  entire  amount  of 
the  claims  of  Maine  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  so  that  the  proceeds  can 
never  be  diverted  from  their  legitimate  purpose,  Congress  will,  as  we 
believe,  the  more  readily  recognize  the  obligation  of  paying  an  admitted 
debt. 

On  the  payment  of  this  debt  by  Congress,  the  company  will  at  once 
discharge  that  mortgage,  so  that  the  whole  payment  will  enure  to  the 
benefit  of  the  first  mortgage  bond-holders.  The  $1,000,000  which  is 
believed  may  be  obtained  on  the  Massachusetts  claims  assigned  to  the 
company  by  the  Act  of  May  16th,  1865,  will  in  like  manner  further 
strengthen  this  mortgage. 

It  will  be  regarded  as  a wise  precaution  that  all  the  moneys  to  be 
received  from  the  sales  of  timber,  and  lands,  and  bonds,  and  from  the 
claims  on  the  United  States  are  secured  to  the  building  of  this  railway 
in  the  hands  of  trustees. 

As  the  proceeds  of  all  sales  of  timber  and  lands  are  set  apart  and 
secured,  first  for  the  payment  of  the  interest,  and  after  that  of  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  one  million  dollars  ($1,000,000)  of  land  bonds,  we 
cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  fact  that  these  bonds  are  doubly  secured,  nor 
can  we  entertain  a doubt,  that  the  line  of  railway  from  Bangor  to  St. 
John,  will  develop  a business  so  as  to  become  a paying  one,  in  a few 
years  after  it  is  opened  through,  and  that,  until  the  business  of  the  line 
is  developed,  the  interest  on  the  million  land  bonds  will  easily  be  paid, 
from  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  the  lands  and  timber,  if  not  in  fact,  the 
entire  amount  of  principal  and  interest. 

Sales  of  land  and  timber  will  only  be  required  to  the  amount  of 
annual  interest  due  on  bonds  issued.  Beyond  the  two  hundred  thousand 
($200,000)  of*  these  bonds  purchased  for  the  Massachusetts  School 
Fund,  they  will  be  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  and  only 


1866.] 


SENATE— No.  9. 


41 


gradually  put  into  the  market  and  sold,  as  the  work  of  constructing  the 
railway  is  proceeded  with. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  State  lands  of  Maine  from  the  market  by  this 
transfer  of  them  to  the  railway  company,  will  enhance  the  price  of  all 
timber  and  lands  of  individual  proprietors  in  that  State.  Experience  has 
shown  that  the  timber  lands  of  Maine  increase  in  value  from  year  to 
year,  even  when  an  amount  of  stumpage  is  annually  taken  off  them 
equal  to  the  interest  on  their  market  value. 

Maine,  some  fifteen  years  ago,  adopted  a liberal  policy  in  reference  to 
the  settlement  of  its  public  lands,  and  there  is  still  left  a portion,  if  not  a 
very  large  quantity  of  farming  lands,  now  open  to  settlement  under 
existing  laws,  which  will  induce  further  immigration  into  Aroostook,  as 
soon  as  the  railway  shall  be  found  moving  in  that  direction.  In  addition 
to  the  108  miles  of  main  line  to  the  boundary  in  the  direction  of  St. 
John  city,  tfie  railway  company  have  authority  for,  and  contemplate  a 
branch  line  to  the  Aroostook  and  Upper  St.  John,  a distance  of  more 
than  one  hundred  miles  from  the  main  line,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Matta- 
wamkeag. 

The  value  of  a trunk  line  of  railway  to  St.  John  in  extension  of,  and 
in  connection  with  existing  lines  from  Boston  to  Halifax  is  no  longer  a 
matter  of  question  or  doubt.  The  public  voice  and  the  public  interest 
unite  in  demanding  its  early  construction.  Everything  favors  the 
immediate  commencement  and  rapid  prosecution  of  the  enterprise  to 
final  completion.  Maine  and  Massachusetts  are  again  working  in  har- 
mony, in  efforts  to  build  up  and  develop  that  region  of  “ The  Eastern 
Lands,”  which  friendly  co-operation  formerly  so  important  to  the  settle- 
ment of  that  country  was,  for  a time,  interrupted  by  the  adoption  of  the 
policy  of  “ timber  licenses,”  by  Massachusetts.  These  matters  were 
heard  before  the  railway  committee  and  the  legislature  at  the  late 
session.  That  committee  unanimously  reported  a Bill,  granting  a loan 
of  the  State  credit.  It  failed  to  pass,  with  that  feature  in  the  Bill,  from 
the  fact  that  the  strength  of  the  railway  company  was  not  sufficiently 
established.  The  project  itself  had  the  support  of  the  leading  capitalists 
and  business  men  of  Boston,  and  the  unanimous  endorsement  of  its 
Board  of  Trade. 

The  friends  of  this  International  Railway,  believe  that  no  railway  of 
equal  length  upon  the  continent  holds  out  surer  inducements  for  the 
investment  of  capital  than  this  one  from  Boston  to  Halifax,  from  the 
favorable  character  of  its  line,  the  agricultural,  mineral,  and  commercial 
resources  and  manufacturing  facilities  on  its  route.  All  readily  admit 
its  necessity  as  a means  of  social  progress,  by  the  facilities  it  will  afford 
for  an  increased  transatlantic  travel,  as  well  as  a means  of  material 
development  to  New  England  and  her  Provincial  neighbors. 

6 


42 


MEMORIAL. 


[Jan.  ’66. 


From  Boston  to  St.  John  by  railway  will  be  444  miles,  and  to  Halifax 
706  miles.  Of  this  distance  401  miles  are  now  in  operation,  leaving 
306  miles  of  unfinished  line  ; 196  miles  of  it  between  Bangor  and  St. 
John,  and  109  miles  from  Moncton  to  Truro,  between  St.  John  and 
Halifax. 

The  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  voted  an  annual  subsidy,  in  the  form  of 
a four  per  cent,  interest  on  a cost  of  forty  thousand  dollars  ($40,000) 
per  mile,  for  twenty  years  on  the  line  in  that  Province.  New  Brunswick 
donates  ten  thousand  dollars  ($10,000)  per  mile  for  her  portion  of  the 
line,  which  is  an  outright  gift  to  the  party  constructing  it. 

For  that  portion  of  the  line  between  Bangor  and  St.  John  a contract 
with  responsible  parties  has  been  made,  on  conditions  that  promise  its 
completion  within  four  years.  An  offer  to  complete  the  section  from 
Moncton  to  Truro  was  made  by  the  International  Contract  Company  of 
Great  Britain,  and  the  respective  heads  of  the  two  Provincial  Govern- 
ments proceeded  to  England  in  June  last,  secured  the  consummation  of 
the  contract,  so  that  the  completion  of  the  line  to  Halifax  may  be  looked 
for  within  the  next  four  years. 

We  deem  it  unnecessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  importance  of  this  work 
to  Massachusetts  and  to  Boston,  as  the  facts  and  reasonings  presented 
to  the  legislature  in  the  memorial  of  the  railway  company,  covering 
the  whole  ground  are  familiar  to  all. 

The  large  expenditures  toward  the  construction  of  this  line  by  the 
people  of  Bangor  and  the  Penobscot  Valley,  before  it  assumed  its 
present  proportions,  show  how  fully  they  appreciate  the  importance  of 
this  railroad ; and  though  a loss  to  individual  contributors  was  incurred, 
the  expense  itself  was  not  lost  to  the  enterprise.  Their  interest  in  the 
railroad  still  continues,  and  the  railway  company  proceed,  upon  the 
assurance  that  a half  million  of  dollars  of  local  subscription  is  yet  to  be 
made  to  it,  before  the  work  of  construction  is  acted  upon. 

By  order  of  the  Directors. 

JOHN  A POOR, 

President  E.  N.  A.  R.  Co.  of  Maine . 


Bangor,  July  29th,  1865. 


